Creativity@Work Exercise: What Went Wrong?

What can we learn from the failures, foibles, and follies of other organizations? How can we use a study of mistakes to work toward success?

Fear of failure is one of the barriers to having a more creative and innovative workplace environment. Nobody likes failure—it feels bad, often it’s embarrassing, in its worst form, it can be destructive. People, as well as organizations often have a hard time admitting it when they have failed or made a mistake. So how do we take failures and turn them into successes? Rather than trying to forget them, why don’t we analyze them, debrief, and try to learn to do better next time?

Even the most successful companies including Apple, the Gap, and Coca-Cola, have made larger than life gaffes and managed to thrive and survive. Try this exercise using some examples from competitors or well-known companies. Then try it with your organization’s own mistakes and missteps.

For a look at some very public failures and mistakes, here’s some inspiration:
• The Gap’s new logo comes and goes in a week
• Apple’s IPhone 4 “Antenna gate”
• Nestle insults its customers on Facebook
• Who is Microsoft Bob?
• These potato chips come with unpleasant side effects

Come together in small groups, discuss what happened, and then consider:

• What went wrong?
• What could have been done better? Why?
• What worked? What didn’t?
• How could this be avoided in the future?
• How could this be fixed? What channels could be used?
• Is there a moral to the story? What is it?

Need more inspiration? Try these websites:
Forbes.com Marketing Blog
PR Mistakes and Blunders
Time Magazine's Top 50 Worst Inventions

Coming Wednesday: Creative Books and Authors

Want more ideas to unleash Creativity@Work? For more information on how to get your copy of THE training guide to Creativity@Work, Growing Great Ideas: Unleashing More Creativity@Work, visit the E-book website. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter or become a fan of my Facebook Creativity@Work page. I can also train you and your organization to be more creative and innovative at work. Email me for more information.

Power from the People

As a trainer, I am often charged with taking a germ of an idea, nurturing it, and growing it into a full-fledged course. Most of the time, I work alone, at the keyboard of my computer, putting information together. Occasionally, I have the pleasure of working closely with those on the front-lines. One of my current projects, what my colleagues at the local community college and I call an “Ambassador” program, is heavily dependent on input from the outside. Geared toward those who work directly with tourists (we affectionately call them visitors), the program provides a background of the area, things to do, places to go, mixed with a heavy dose of customer service.

Yesterday was the second of two sessions meant as a sort of focus group to determine what, if anything is missing, inaccurate, or needs to be added? I had a small but powerful group of ladies who work at the official visitor center and are often visitors’ first point of contact when coming into the area. All generously offered their opinions and stories about encounters they have had. I want to use this post to thank them because their willingness to speak frankly is what will make this training the best it can be.