Continuing our best of Killer Innovations series, we explore the hidden benefits of successful failures.

For innovation leaders, it is vital to learn how to turn failures into successes. Innovation is all about seeing opportunities others don't see and seizing them. Successful failures lead to successful innovations.

The Importance of Failure

The experimentation phase is within the innovation process often full of failures. These failures are not always negative. When things are unplanned, failures allow us to see what needs change. Successful innovations require risk and a capacity for productive failures, which reveal something new about the problem you are trying to solve. To experience productive failure, you have to fail successfully. Three characteristics help you figure out if your failures are successful.

Three Characteristics of Successful Failures

1. Effort: Firm commitment is a must for innovators, even when others give up hope. Ask yourself, "Did you give your project your 100% best effort?"
2. Perspective: Reflect on what happened during each failure, learn from it, and apply what you learned to future innovations. Ask yourself, "what does the experience teach you about what works and what doesn't?"
3. Inspiration: Experiment failure might lead to lessons about the nature of the problem, inspiring better solutions. They can also teach us something about how we think. Through failures, you can learn how to solve problems better. Ask, "Does this new understanding inspire a new understanding that wasn't there before?"