Build a culture that accepts failure and experimentation

One thing that every entrepreneur should do is to build a culture that accepts experimentation and the associated failures.

To succeed, one has to innovate. To innovate, one has to experiment. To experiment, one has to learn to embrace the fact that experiments oftentimes fail. And so, every founder should learn to accept failures.

What type of failures?

Failures, which if would have succeeded, would have led to a substantial upside in the Business.

For instance, a team member of yours spends 2 months chasing a customer in the US market but didn't get a deal. Now, this team member should absolutely not be penalized. Instead, they should be rewarded for their effort because if they'd have ended up cracking this customer, it would have opened up a completely new market for your business - a sizeable upside!

What type of failures should be penalized?

- Ignorance
- Carelessness
- Misbehaving with other team members or customers
- Irresponsible behavior
- Indisciplined behavior
- Not taking responsibility for customers
- Lying
- Hiding data

Etc.

Founders must know when to penalize for failures and when not. Failures due to failed experiments should be rewarded.

Do you have a culture of experimentation in your organization?

I have shared a lot of my learnings about Business and Entrepreneurship on my YouTube Channel. Please check it here: https://youtube.com/@aman.goeliitb