Don’t judge me too quickly but …. I think I’m going to retire the phrase “fail fast, fail safely.”
24 September 2026It’s an idea originally embedded in agile, innovation and start-up thinking encouraging us to try things, learn quickly, adapt and make sure getting something wrong isn’t catastrophic. I understand the principle. I’ve used the phrase myself, but last week when in Oman I began to become increasingly uncomfortable with the word fail.
So I’m changing my mantra: Instead of “Fail fast. Fail safely.”❌ I am wanting to focus on “Experiment fast. Experiment safely.” ✅
It might sound like semantics, but I think the distinction matters, particularly when we think about change, reinvention and adaptability.
Change requires us to do things differently. Reinvention requires us to challenge assumptions and explore what might work next. Adaptability requires us to learn and adjust as we go. But people won’t experiment if they’re frightened of getting things wrong.
That’s where leadership and psychological safety matter. We can’t simply tell people to “be more adaptable.” Leaders need to create an environment where people have permission to experiment, sensible risks can be taken safely, and unexpected outcomes become opportunities to learn rather than reasons to blame.
An experiment might work. It might partially work. It might surprise us. Or it might prove our original assumption wrong. All of which is positive as it creates learning.
Perhaps being change ready isn’t about becoming comfortable with failure. Maybe it is about creating the psychological safety to be comfortable learning through uncertainty. For me, that’s why we at Resourceful People Group Ltd we want to focus on “People First. Change Ready.”
