‘Being audacious and working on big, risky things makes people inherently uncomfortable. You cannot yell at people and force them to fail fast. People resist. They worry, “What will happen to me if I fail? Will people laugh at me? Will I be fired?”‘ – Astro Teller in TED talk on how to build a culture that learns through proactive experimentation
Teller continues:
“I started with our secret. I’m going to leave you with how we actually make it happen. The only way to get people to work on big, risky things — audacious ideas — and have them run at all the hardest parts of the problem first, is if you make that the path of least resistance for them.
We work hard at X to make it safe to fail. Teams kill their ideas as soon as the evidence is on the table because they’re rewarded for it. They get applause from their peers. Hugs and high fives from their manager, me in particular. They get promoted for it.
We have bonused every single person on teams that ended their projects, from teams as small as two to teams of more than 30. We believe in dreams at the moonshot factory. But enthusiastic skepticism is not the enemy of boundless optimism. It’s optimism’s perfect partner. It unlocks the potential in every idea.”
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Fear of failure is the enemy of growth. When your people are working on a problem that requires exploration rather than execution most of their hypotheses and proposed solutions will end up being wrong and require significant revision.
How your people feel about these “mistakes” will play a huge role in determining whether the exploration process leads to growth or acedia. The treatment your people receive from their leaders (including you) can nudge them toward “learned helplessness”, but leaders (including you) also have the power to nudge them toward “learned hopefulness.”
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Mistakes + Reflection = Insights for Long-Term Growth
Rather than blaming those who make mistakes, consider adopting something like Martin Seligman’s ABCDE model (or another reflective model) to understand the architecture of the mistake. (ABCDE stands for “Adversity, Beliefs, Consequences, Dispute, Energy.”) The ABCDE model was originally developed to help people apply critical thinking to break out of irrational cycles of negative thinking when they experience adversity; however, you can use a similar approach to help shift focus away from the person who has made a mistake toward the context in which the mistake occurred. ABDCE renders mistakes (which can definitely feel like a kind of adversity) less emotionally threatening.
Once we have a better description of the context in which a mistake occurred, we can use what we have learned to avoid making the same error next time around.
A few years ago, my colleagues and I came up with a simple (and not particularly unique) model called CIAO that we use to help clients develop a habit of relatively painless reflection and scenario planning.
In a CIAO exercise, you map out Contextual Factors, Intended Outcomes, Action Options, and Actual Outcomes. You can use CIAO analysis for collaborative reflection to confirm whether you got the outcomes you intended to get and analyze what led to your success or failure. You can also use CIAO as a guide for collaborative planning to be sure you and your colleagues have aligned on intended outcomes, key contextual factors and action options before you move forward with any particular action. CIAO allows you to consider mistakes holistically rather than falling into the trap of just figuring out who should be held accountable for them.
Reflective models such as ABCDE and CIAO serve as a constructive alternative to the natural instinct to hide mistakes, wallow in a sense of failure or search for someone else to blame.
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Agency (主体性) + Purpose (志) + Growth (成長) + Connection (繋がり) + Contribution (貢献) = Meaning (意義)
In the space between you and me awaits all that will ever be.
© Dana Cogan, 2025, all rights reserved.