Nobody likes to fail. Yet most people, and most companies, claim they value learning. There’s your problem right there. Real learning comes from trying things with high uncertainty. And high uncertainty means frequent failure. You can’t have one without the other.

Failure isn’t a bug of innovation. It’s the cover charge.

Years ago, I got a call from the Publishing Director of a Mexican edtech company. He and several team members had been through one of my innovation workshops months earlier. The question that stuck with them, the one they kept coming back to, was this:

What have you failed at this week?

That question became the foundation of the innovation team I helped them build. The team launched entirely new products outside the company’s core publishing business. But more importantly, that question gave people permission to try ideas that felt dangerous. Ideas that could cannibalize existing revenue. Ideas that made executives nervous.

One team member pitched a platform that would have directly competed with their bestselling textbook series. It failed in beta testing; users hated the interface. But the research revealed an unexpected insight into student behavior, leading to a different product that succeeded.

That only happened because someone was willing to fail publicly.

The question became their filter: If you can’t point to something you tried that didn’t work, you’re not pushing hard enough. You’re optimizing, not innovating.

Here’s what “What have you failed at this week?” actually signals:

• We value experimentation over perfection
• We reward learning, not just outcomes
• We understand that progress comes from bold bets, not safe ones

If you’re not failing regularly, you’re not trying anything new. And if you’re not trying anything new, you’re not innovating; you’re just maintaining.

So here’s the uncomfortable question:

What have you failed at this week?

Not theoretically. Not eventually. This week.

If your answer is “nothing,” that’s not a sign of excellence. It’s a sign you’re playing defense when the game requires offense.

Pull out your calendar. Look at what you actually attempted. If everything succeeded, you weren’t aiming high enough.

Now ask your team the same question on Monday. Their answers, or their silence, will tell you everything you need to know about whether you’re building an innovation culture or just talking about one.