What is this “culture of error”​?

In a world where we are conditioned to see error in an unacceptable way, it is understandable why many companies and people are not yet adapted to the culture of error.

A culture that I always take wherever I go, and I evangelize in the teams that I lead, is precisely not to be afraid of making mistakes, trust, autonomy to innovate, to risk, we don’t always work in the best scenario, often, especially in startups, where everything is very new, we end up working “in the fog” and learning as we move forward and with that error is inevitable and often even essential. I always say, be humble to assume your failures and mistakes, so you will reach success and your goal.

But, come on, you must be asking yourself: What is this “culture of error”?

The big technology companies born in Silicon Valley in California (USA), incorporated in their routine the mentality that behind every mistake, there is the capacity to learn from it, something that is fundamental for the growth of both the company and of the human being.

In other words, the culture of error is to understand that by making a mistake, we can correct it quickly by reinventing ourselves and learning from the changes.

“Whoever never made mistakes, never tried anything new ”- Albert Einstein

The culture of error in companies

It may seem cliché, because currently, it is common to see innovative environments, like some startups, implementing this culture. But, this needs to go further.

The culture of error must be understood and implemented by the most diverse types of organizations. It is necessary to internalize this mentality, passing through all its employees, rooting this culture in all its processes, and especially in the management of the company.

For this culture to be put into practice, it is extremely important that everyone is aligned and engaged in this challenge. It is important to formalize the project, communicate it before a meeting, or within your internal communication.

Constant learning and the immediate search for a solution has to be taken into account at all times, whatever the project. Always remembering to strengthen this culture before its employees, who may have standards created by society that making mistakes is synonymous with failure, not learning.

“Every company needs to have people who make mistakes, who are not afraid of making mistakes and who learn from mistakes” — Bill Gates

There are mistakes … and mistakes!

Am I encouraging you to make mistakes? No! Because there are types of errors.

Not every mistake is the same, according to Amy Edmondson, professor of leadership at Novartis at Harvard Business School, (HBR, 2011), there are those caused by misconduct, inattention, incapacity and inadequacy of processes, and there are also errors arising uncertainty about future events, process complexity, hypothesis testing, etc.

The first is preventable, and therefore should not be accepted naturally, it is important to be observed and talked at feedback meetings, for example.

The second is acceptable errors, which are part of the culture of error mentality. Through them we can have the opportunity to dare and experiment.

E-commerce, Digital Marketing, technology companies, are examples of why the culture of error is important. There are infinite mistakes made in this market, which are studied to implement improvements, almost all the time. The digital age has evolved with its flaws, transforming countless niche markets through new discoveries and improvements.

This is the culture of error in practice.

“The biggest mistake in life is to always be afraid of making mistakes” — Elbert Hubbard.

That’s it for now, guys. Thank you and see you next time :)