The art of failing up – how Google stayed ahead by falling forward (and so can you)

Failures are a natural part of every business. There isn't a single company out there that hasn't made a mistake. Both your company, Rocksoft, and every other business will stumble many times throughout their journeys – that's just how it is, and there's nothing you can do about it.

What we can control are two key things:

1. How you handle those mistakes.

2. Whether you end up making more or fewer of them over time.

Both of these are within your control, and they're closely connected.

Together with Piotr, our CEO, we took a closer look at this crucial topic, sharing some real-world examples.

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Google's approach to burning hundreds of millions

Google is known for its flops – Google Talk, Google+, Glass... In a typical large corporation, half the team behind each of these projects would likely be fired – after all, they burned through hundreds of millions of dollars, right?

But that's not how things work at Google.

A key part of Google's culture is its innovative approach to failure. They see mistakes as opportunities to learn and strengthen the whole system. In their world, postmortems - detailed reviews of incidents - aren't just paperwork, but powerful tools for preventing future problems.

Central to this philosophy is the "blameless postmortem," where mistakes are analyzed without pointing fingers.

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Learning through failure

This approach has huge potential. Companies that lean into this mindset tend to outpace their competition – while others rush to sweep their failures under the rug, you can dive deep into what went wrong and learn valuable lessons with your team.

It's crucial for business owners to create a safe environment for failure. Allow your employees and teams to fall within protected boundaries. They'll learn faster, and knowing that calculated risks are encouraged, not punished, will drive your company forward.

Google uses postmortem documents, but there are many other tools you can leverage, like sprint retrospectives, the 5 Whys analysis, and the concept of Lessons Learned. All of these can help you pinpoint root causes and improve next time. As we say at Rocksoft: Progress every day.

This approach builds a powerful innovation engine. Problems are identified quickly, solutions are tested rapidly, and the entire organization keeps learning. And this is how you create a truly innovative business.     – Piotr

Practical steps to failing forward

It's easy to talk about how companies like Google and Rocksoft handle failure, but what can you actually do to embrace this mindset in your business?

1. Create a safe space for failure
   Encourage your people to try new things, even if not all of them work out. Make sure they know that taking risks is part of growth and that mistakes are just steps toward innovation.

2. Use tools for failure analysis
   Regular retrospectives, 5 Whys analysis, and Lessons Learned sessions are simple yet powerful tools that help you pull valuable insights from setbacks and build stronger teams.

3. Celebrate not just successes, but lessons from failures
   Share both wins and lessons learned openly – it shows that the journey matters just as much as the destination.

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Wrap-up

Every company, no matter the size or industry, will face failures. How you handle them shapes your future. At Rocksoft, we believe that every lesson, even the painful ones, is a step forward.

Remember, breakthroughs often come from unexpected places, and mistakes are just stops on the road to something great. So don't be afraid to experiment, learn from setbacks, and keep moving forward.

Progress every day.

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