In the world of business and innovation, we’ve been inundated with catchy phrases like “fail fast” and “move fast and break things.” These mantras have been celebrated as the hallmarks of agile, innovative organizations. But after years of watching leaders embrace these approaches, I’ve come to a conclusion: these are NOT effective approaches in most situations.
When we dig beneath the surface, “fail fast” often feels like a convenient way to avoid:
Let’s be realistic: Are we going to fail? Absolutely. When we’re solving complex problems under conditions of uncertainty and rapid change, failure is inevitable. But there’s a fundamental difference between accepting that failure will happen and glorifying it as an end goal.
Instead of simply “failing fast,” what if we approached failure with more intention and discipline? Here’s the framework I’ve found to be significantly more effective:
Think in experiments rather than binary success/failure terms. This looks like:
This transforms random failures into structured learning opportunities.
When you fail smarter, you’re not just taking shots in the dark—you’re building a systematic understanding of what works and what doesn’t. You are expanding awareness and understanding of the problem space. Each attempt is designed to yield specific insights, regardless of whether the primary objective is achieved.
Design experiments with awareness of risk and potential impacts. Shorter feedback loops help you do three important things:
The key difference between “failing fast” and “failing sooner” is that the latter emphasizes the importance of timing and risk assessment. It’s not about rushing something simply because you want to deliver something fast. It’s about strategically minimizing the resources expended and potential negative impacts of failure while learning key information that will help you seek towards goals.
Every experiment is an opportunity to learn—about the customer problem, the market, our capabilities, and what it will take to achieve a bigger goal. Mine the failure for learning, and then use that learning to make progress toward your objectives.
When we inspect the results of an experiment, we then decide if we should continue, stop, or pivot. This is why measures must be treated as neutral information, not targets to hit nor “judgements” of people.
Failing forward means that no failure is truly a failure if it moves you closer to your goal or gives you key information about whether the goal still makes sense or should be adjusted.
The Evidence-Based Management (EBM) framework is what I use to help teams and organizations bring discipline, transparency, and collective intelligence into their strategic approach. It provides a structured way to implement the “fail smarter, sooner, forward” approach.
But remember that a framework itself is not enough. It’s about how we USE the framework in our specific context.
We can move beyond “fail fast” when people truly step into their leadership.
The problem with many business catchphrases is that they oversimplify complex realities. “Fail fast” might work in certain limited contexts, but it falls woefully short as a comprehensive approach to innovation and problem-solving.
By reframing our relationship with failure—seeing it not as something to rush toward but as a valuable source of information when approached correctly—we can create more resilient organizations and sustainable innovation practices.
True innovation isn’t about how quickly you can fail; it’s about how effectively you can learn. And learning requires structure, intention, and a willingness to go beyond overly simplistic mantras.
If this approach resonates with you and you’d like to learn more about implementing Evidence-Based Management (EBM) in your organization, I’m teaching a live virtual EBM class on March 13-14 (half days) that covers these principles in depth.
AGILE SOCKS is a registered trademark of Agile Socks LLC. Other marks used herein are the property of their respective owners. For more information see Trademark Notice in Terms & Conditions.