Keynote speaker and awards compère at the recent PPMA conference Ian Thomas says making mistakes can be a powerful enabler that drives innovation and creativity
‘Failure is the key to success; each mistake teaches us something.’ This is a quote from Ueshiba that tells us that perfection doesn’t exist. I used to be that person – a manager who always wanted everything to be ‘just so’ and was frustrated when things wouldn’t go as intended.
However, over the years I have learned to accept that the pursuit of perfection is an imperfect construct. Turning the reality of imperfection into a positive platform for change is something that I believe requires more critical thought.
Throughout my career I have seen how transformation can occur at scale, with the best examples being those where positive disruption and learning rather than blaming serves to achieve the desired outcomes.
Stating to your teams from the outset that making mistakes is OK and can be a powerful enabler, leading to creativity and innovation. ‘The person who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new,’ said Einstein.
Some of the best-loved inventions in the world today are products of error. The Post It note was Spencer Silver’s failed attempt to create a strong adhesive for the aerospace industry back in 1968 which later became, dare I say, the perfect adhesive for a piece of paper that can be written on and used repeatedly.
The potato chip – crisps in English – resulted from a chef, George Speck, who in 1853 took revenge on a complaining customer by overly frying potatoes to a crisp, which later became a snack, according to one source, now worth $29.35bn. It is a snack I have far too much love for.
So how can we create the conditions referred to above? Firstly, by working hard on developing a culture that is psychologically safe.
I like the idea of encouraging teams to have a smorgasbord of ideas and innovations happening at the same time. Being brave and agile, accepting that some won’t work but appreciating the value in the learning and art of failing fast.
And there are parallels we can draw between sports psychology and coaching to achieve transformation across multiple sectors. The young professional footballer Tyler Morton was bear-hugged by Liverpool’s manager Jürgen Klopp just before he made his debut for the team in 2021.
The gesture said ‘go out and be the best the best you can be – don’t worry if it doesn’t go according to plan – it’s on me’. I would advise against bear-hugging all your staff in this way but we can do it metaphorically, for sure, and should.
In places that are psychologically safe there is comfort in making mistakes (being imperfect) and learning from failure.
Never tire of saying thank you. Appreciative inquiry, an approach developed in the 1950s, encourages us to be appreciative and to celebrate success to galvanise a response to becoming the organisations we want to see. The PPMA exemplifies this mindset, as we saw at their recent awards ceremony, which I had the pleasure of compèring.
Behind the glitz and glamour of the occasion are hardworking HR and OD colleagues, all striving to ensure that we are the best that we can be.
And finally, practice the art of distributed leadership, empowering others to be their brilliant best – you don’t have to be the smartest in the room but actually, strive for the opposite. As EY partner Helen Sunderland said on a podcast we hosted together recently, ‘if you constantly feel that you are the smartest in the room, find a new room!’
Of course, in a political context failure can be a difficult commodity. Fear of failure drives some councils downwards, towards risk aversion and an anti-innovation culture. I recognise I am lucky. Here at the City of London Corporation, I am enveloped in aspiration, which is a good job given our huge agenda. In my case, this extends beyond the traditional local authority functions, to one which is the government of the square mile and voice and convenor of the UK’s financial and professional services sector, which represents 12% of the UK economy.
He went onto explain how the Future Growth Fund championed by our Lord Mayor Nick Lyons, targeting up to £50bn of private sector defined contribution pension schemes, would inject transformational capital into industries such as fintech, biotech, life sciences, and green technology.
How can managerial leaders achieve this mindset change working within a political context where failure can have electoral consequences? We need to share the opportunities with our political masters.
Perhaps I have been fortunate, but I have found elected members thrive on officers who want to do things differently. Many politicians recognise they are only in their roles for a finite period – they want to make a difference in the limited time available to them. Who wants their epitaph to be ‘under my leadership we trod water’, or ‘we managed decline effectively’?
If we are to be authentic we all need to demonstrate emotional intelligence, experimenting with new ideas and being humble enough to admit when mistakes have been made or when one is simply wrong – embracing mea culpa and this being OK.
As journalist and author Anna Quindlen once said: ‘The thing that is really hard, and amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work on becoming yourself.'
So, I say, let’s revel in our own imperfection.
Ian Thomas CBE is town clerk and chief executive at the City of London Corporation
@Ian_C_Thomas
