Intelligent Failure Competency Model

Organizational Poor Good Very Good

System Sub Very Poor
System (mostly absent or (some presence or working (present and functioning well
Element (absent)
Component misapplied) well in specific areas) across the organization)
Leadership doesn’t value Organizational goals do not Goals express desire to Learning from successes and
Overall
reflection or learning. express the importance of learn, but failure is not failures is explicit in
Strategy & objective
learning. mentioned. organizational goals.
Goals Planning and With a few exceptions, Plans are developed with Plans allow for ongoing
Who we are and
what we do
implementation strategies plans tend to be formal, broad-based input. When adaptation, are developed
Planning
do not allow for adaptation rigid and driven from the they are inappropriate, we inclusively and identify
based on learning. top-down. are able to adapt them. hypotheses that will be tested.
Technology & The tools and/or formal The tools that exist for There are a few tools and/or Right-sized, formal processes
Work processes needed to deal handling failure process which are useful in ensure maximum learning from
Processes
How we do what with failure productively do productively are often learning from failures. failures.
we do not exist. inappropriate or inadequate.
Failure, when discovered, is Failure is only acceptable Many job descriptions Everyone in the organization is
HR practices routinely punished. for certain people in my include mention of responsible and accountable
organization. learning. for learning.
Formal We are rewarded only for Only success is rewarded In specific areas of the We are rewarded for effort and
Organization Organizational achieving planned results, except in a few specific organization, trying new learning, not simply outcomes.
How the parts of
Structure not effort or learning. cases where learning and things and learning is
the organization
relate to each other effort were recognized. rewarded.
I lack the time and/or Occasionally, I find time to I can usually find time to Learning and reflection is a
Job Design resources for reflection. reflect. reflect when it is important. critical part of my job and I
always make time for it.
Informal My organization's culture is There is a tendency to There is a norm of speaking We know to constantly look
Organization Organizational not conducive to dealing acknowledge failure, assign openly about both for errors, expecting failures in
The emergent Culture with failure productively. responsibility, and move on successes and failures all everything we do.
characteristics of quickly. the time.
the organization There is a strong tendency It is rare for someone to be Most people react with People in my network value
that affect how it Social Networks towards blame in times of shunned because of a curiosity for what was learning over laying blame.
operates failure. failure. learned in times of failure.
External Regulators and competitors When confronted with Failures are openly The organization shares
Influences Competitors, are considered a threat. failure, the organization discussed. The organization failures externally.
Relevant aspects of Failures are hidden. will discuss it. has a healthy relationship Stakeholders tend to appreciate
Regulators
the surrounding with regulators. the complexity of the work.
environment

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 Intelligent Failure Competency Model

Organizational Poor Good Very Good

System Sub Very Poor
System (mostly absent or (some presence or working (present and functioning well
Element (absent)
Component misapplied) well in specific areas) across the organization)
I don't feel I am confident I am willing to share the I understand not all failures I can confidently own up to
Individual enough and/or in a secure failures as long as I believe are created equally and treat failures, knowing my manager
Motivations enough place in my work to I can fix them. them accordingly. and peers will work with me to
deal with failures openly. learn and improve.
There are no examples or I have some knowledge on There is a good People I work with are
role models of what it looks how to deal with failure understanding in the excellent role models. They
Knowledge like to deal with failure from external examples and organization of what it discuss failures and work
productively. articles I’ve read. takes to analyze and learn together to learn from them.
from failures.
It is difficult to come up I have been tempted to I occasionally test new I have frequent opportunities to
with new ideas, test and experiment with new ideas ideas in the interest of participate in learning and
Skills
iterate in my context. but haven’t followed learning and improvement. improvement initiatives, and
People through. access to training if I want it.
Characteristics of Dealing well with failures is Improving how we learn I see a need for reacting Reacting productively to
the individuals who Needs & unnecessary. We simply from failure is a low productively to failures. failure is important. I am keen
comprise the Preferences should make sure we don’t priority in my context. to improve how I and others
organization fail. learn from failure.
Regardless of one’s The organization allows General support is provided It is recognized that our
background, failure is not some room for failure. so that failure is considered background affects our
an option at our However, only those from acceptable but does not take perception of failure. The
Background organization. backgrounds where failure into account specific organization supports
is considered acceptable backgrounds of employees. employees appropriately so
tend to act on this. that failure is considered
acceptable universally.
Leaders never speak openly Leaders tend to speak in Leaders tell stories of Leaders believe in taking
about their own failures and broad terms about failures failure and what they responsibility for the failures of
Influence of
react negatively when (e.g. mistakes were made) learned from them. They their employees and working
Leaders
others fail. and rarely reward people reward others who do the with them to ensure learning.
for speaking up. same.

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