Phrases from yesterday...

1. We can no longer afford to make mistakes!

Mistakes suck! They reveal stupidity and negligence, they endanger their own job and the boss's reputation, and when they happen, we all in trouble. Such an error culture based on prohibitions paralyzes companies through all hierarchical levels. Because as long as people have their heads cut short for mistakes, they dare less and invest a large part of their working time in sophisticated avoidance and cover-up strategies that are highly inefficient for the actual work process.

How much evidence do managers and executives need to understand that such a culture of error triggers fear and that fear is the killer of all innovation? Remaining in the eternally old and a lack of motivation for flexibility are the effects.

Why don't the many well-known examples of products that shouldn't even exist finally become mainstream, showing that mistakes also mean learning and progress? The more dynamics and complexity increase, the more errors occur in the old structures. "We should allow ourselves more mistakes!" would be a good maxim for the future. It is not for nothing that the new discussion about failure is currently receiving such strong support in the media and society.

Perhaps there will be greater serenity and thus also negligence, and perhaps the number of mistakes will increase for the time being. But I am convinced that the positive effects on innovation and progress in the company as well as on the health of the employees will outweigh the long-term.