James Reason Swiss Cheese Model. Source: BMJ, 2000 Mar 18:320(7237): 768-770 A while ago I was part of the Cardiff pilot of Practical Strategies for Learning from Failure (#LFFdigital). My job was to explain the James Reason Swiss Cheese Failure Model in 300 seconds (5 minutes). This is what I did. The Swiss Cheese Model of […]
Failure is Not an Option, and Neither is Blame, Most of the Time.
Here’s a quick quiz. Where did the phrase ‘Failure is not an option’ originate? Queen Boudicca AD 61, in her famous rallying call to the Iceni Tribe before taking on the occupation forces of the Roman Empire. Chief Engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel 1835. In his brief memo to all Great Western Railway staff, stressing the importance […]
Struggling with Learning from Failure? Just host a Cheese Fondue Party
Buried deeply in the recesses of our kitchen cupboards is a Le Creuset Cast Iron, Lifetime Guarantee, Fondue Set (somewhere near the automatic bread maker and the juice making thing). It was a wedding present and represented the height of 1980’s sophistication… apparently. It’s never been used as far as I can remember. All that boiling […]
Good Practice Case Studies, No #Failure? You’re Doing It Wrong.
Good practice case studies are like Hollywood movie trailers…… they only show you the best bits of what happened (with some exceptions). Sorry if that’s upset anyone, I am trying to be helpful. There is a great deal that can be learnt from the things that ‘didn’t quite go to plan’ (failure in many cases). […]
Corporate Amnesia: Deliberately Forgetting Failure Can Be Hard Work
The recent VW emissions scandal has brought together two interesting ideas, corporate amnesia and learning from failure. Instead of learning lessons from failure and retaining them in the corporate memory (so you don’t make the same mistakes in the future), what if organisations adopted the opposite approach? What if an organisation took action to deliberately […]
That Which Does Not Kill Us Makes Us Stronger. Beneficial Accidents and Survivable Failure
“That which does not kill us makes us stronger” A terrible confession to start….. I thought it was Del Boy Trotter; Risk Management Advisor (“who dares wins”) and famous Peckham Philosopher who said this. Actually it was Friedrich Nietzsche, the famous German Philosopher (1844-1900), but you all knew that. We all know it makes sense….. some minor trauma, […]
Loving and Learning from Failure. Great idea, but how does it work?
“Accept that failure will happen and learn the lessons”. That could be a classic from the dictionary of “easy to say, hard to do” inspirational quotes. You know the ones, they get posted all over Facebook with backgrounds of epic landscapes or golden sunsets. I fully agree with the sentiment, but how does this work in a […]
“Failure is not an option…..” Daleks, the enforcers of Best Practice.
I don’t think this is an actual Dalek quote, but it should be….. “Failure is not an option…. exterminate!” I’m back to pursuing learning from failure after listening to an episode of The Life Scientific on BBC Radio 4, featuring Professor Dame Wendy Hall. In response to a question (27mins) on why the UK doesn’t […]
Failure Models and NUMB3RS. How do you get from backwards look to real time learning?
If you’ve seen the television show NUMB3RS you may have the impression that it is possible to mathematically predict complex situations. Gather some NUMB3RS (data, information etc), apply a relevant mathematical model, calculate the next occurrence of the event and catch the perpetuator in the act. All you need is the application of some fiendishly […]
Failure* should be part of your CV (*= fast intelligent failure)
Now that’s a statement that might cause a few recruitment consultants and career coaches to splutter into their skinny macchiato. Surely its all about winning and trumpeting your success, isn’t it? Admitting to failure, and claiming it as some sort of achievement is a pretty alien concept. In many organisations the approach to failure is […]
