The Institute of Glorious Failures

Many of our clients struggle with the same question : how to give valuable ideas the elbow room to develop properly; how to protect fledgling ideas from ‘short term’ budget and performance pressures.

What to do if they don’t ‘fit the mold’ or are harder to quantify? What if you need partnerships ‘with the outside’ to develop and monetize them? What if they seem strange but feel right? This week I was introduced to ABN AMRO’s solution to this dilemma: a separate department called ‘The Dialogues Incubator’, with its own clubhouse called ‘Dialogues House’. This is where ‘Great Ideas’ are parked and developed until they are either ‘Switched On’ or ‘Terminated’ after serious consideration.

Connected to this incubator is a platform about innovation and learning, called ‘The Institute of Glorious Failures’, run by an inspiring chap called Paul Iske. Their motto is ‘Failure is an option’; the basic premise being that if you never make mistakes, the chances of innovation are roughly nil. Quite refreshing in the generally ‘mucho macho’ success environment of Dutch Banking.

He presented a wonderful index of organisational performance and learning based on two components:
(a) the number of questions asked per day
(b) the number of times you laugh per day

Apparently, this index bombs downward from the moment we master speech and learning (around 5 years), hitting rock bottom at age 45-50, when – allegedly – we enter a state called ‘Terminal Seriousness’.

Reassuringly, the downward trend is reversed into a steep incline after retirement. Although my hypothesis would be that the original nose-dive is less prominent outside the banking profession (no offense meant, Jasper, Paul and Douglas – if you’re reading this), my learning points were:

I. questions and laughter are good, and
II. it’s a really reassuring sign that a bank like ABN AMRO has such an delightful institute within its walls.

Check them out : www.briljantemislukkingen.nl

Thanks to Jaspar and Auke for inviting me to the lecture. We look forward to avoiding terminal seriousness with you soon.