Fail Fast: How to Learn from Different Types of Failure

“Fail fast” is hardly a new idea, but I find its usefulness enduring, and following some recent discussions with colleagues and customers I thought the time was ripe to revisit some key concepts.

For a long time, people relied upon the concept that “Success breeds success” and then along came the Fail fast concept which seemed to suggest that “Failure breeds success”. Unfortunately, many large organisations still think or find that “Failure breeds failure” and try to ditch the concept, which is a mistake in my opinion.

Why Fail at All?

This is the first fair question. After all isn’t “Right first time” a laudable goal and one that is entirely contrary to failing?

What about the lean concept of “Poka-yoke” which looks to prevent errors, typically those introduced by humans (in fact the original term was “Baka-yoke” or Idiot-proofing but ended up with a milder name)?

It’s all about the context — both above approaches assume:

• The cost of prevention is quite low, particularly in comparison with the cost of failure.
• There are highly repeatable actions being carried out as part of the product or service delivery.
• They tend to be data driven, which typically is best done after a lot of designing, testing and analysis has been carried out.

In a lot of projects, we start right at the beginning, perhaps even with just an idea or a hunch. We don’t know enough yet to effectively use the strategies above. We’ve often set up the project because we are trying to do something novel, innovative, and untested (at least in our context, many others might have done this previously).

What is “Fail Fast”?

“Fail fast” means to test your assumptions and ideas as quickly and cheaply as possible, before investing too much time, money, or resources into them. By failing fast, you can learn what works and what doesn’t, and iterate on your solution until you find the best fit for your customers, users, or audience.

But failing fast is not enough. You also need to fail well. This means you must analyse your failures and extract valuable insights from them. You need to understand why you failed, what you learned, and how you can improve. You also need to communicate your failures and learning to your team, your stakeholders, and your customers, so that they can support you and benefit from your experience.

Four Important Types of Failure

There are different types of failure, and each one requires a different approach to fail well — we will focus of four important ones:

Concept Failure

This is when your idea or vision is not viable, feasible, or desirable. Maybe there is no market demand for your product, or maybe there is a better alternative already available.

To avoid concept failure, you need to validate your problem-solution fit and your product-market fit. You need to talk to your potential customers, understand their needs and pains, and test your value proposition with them. You also need to research your competitors and analyse your unique selling proposition.

Design Failure

We know the concept it sound, but this type of failure occurs when your solution does not meet the expectations or requirements of your customers, users, or audience. Maybe your product is too complex, too confusing, or too boring. We often talk about ensuring we are going to “Build the right thing” at this stage.

To avoid design failure, you need to test your usability, functionality, and desirability repeatedly with real users. You need to observe how people interact with your product, collect feedback from them, and measure their satisfaction and engagement. It is important to start testing as soon as possible, perhaps using sketches, then higher fidelity designs, then models, then prototypes. You also need to apply design principles and best practices to create a user-friendly and, ideally, delightful experience.

Execution Failure

We seem to have the design right, but this is when your implementation does not deliver the intended results or outcomes. Maybe your product is buggy, slow, or unreliable. We often talk about ensuring we are going to “Build the thing right” at this stage.

To avoid execution failure, you need to test your quality, performance, and reliability. You need to use tools and methods such as code reviews, testing frameworks, debugging tools, and monitoring systems to ensure that your product works as expected and meets the standards of quality. You also need to follow agile and lean methodologies to deliver value incrementally and iteratively.

Growth Failure

This is when you have built a good solution, but your product or service does not reach or retain enough customers, users, or audience. Maybe your product is not visible, not attractive, or not sticky enough.

To avoid growth failure, you need to test your acquisition, activation, and retention strategies. It can be tricky to work at at this stage whether the problems lie in how you are trying to grow the product or service, or whether you need to modify your product or service to meet new demands. The reality is probably a mix of both.

And Finally…..

Remember that failing fast is not a goal in itself. It’s a means to an end: learning fast and by learning from different types of failure, you can improve your product or service rapidly, continuously and achieve success faster.

About the Author

Peter Stansbury is a Principal Consultant with Version 1 focused on business transformation.

If you have any questions about managing change, then do get in contact — peter.stansbury@version1.com.