“When does failure fuel success and innovation”

The idea of failure might strike fear into the hearts of business leaders, yet the reality is that at some point we all fail.

Whether it is a project that doesn’t quite work out, a promotion we miss out on or perhaps a deal that somehow seems to elude us, failure is an inevitable part of all our lives.

Yet for both leaders and organisations, the real opportunity lies not in avoiding failure but in ensuring that when failure does occur, it is managed intelligently, and that lessons – positive, negative and otherwise – are learned in order to support both success and innovation.

In this Breakfast Briefing, Open University Associate Lecturer, Laurence Knell, will take a practical look at the critical importance of failure for both success and innovation.  Drawing on research Laurence has undertaken as part of the revised OU MBA Module – BB842: Sustainable Creative Management – the session will focus on how practices such as Intelligent Failure, Deliberate Practice and After-Action Reviews can unlock the benefits of failure.

You will learn how you can more effectively manage failure so that you, your team and your organisations can be more successful and achieve greater levels of innovation.

– Redefine your understanding of innovation and success;

– Learn effective techniques for managing failure in organisations;

– Gain insight into approaches for enhancing organisational and personal resilience.

About the Speaker

Laurence Knell is an Associate Lecturer on the Open University Business School’s MBA programme, teaching in the areas of creativity, innovation and management. He also works closely with The Open University’s Executive Education team and Centre for Police Research and Learning. He has contributed to and co-authored published Open University course work, including the MBA text: Why creativity matters: Insights for individuals and organisations, published in October, 2018.