Not all failures are equal. Innovation teams must adopt a framework for evaluating failures based on their cost-to-learning ratio. A 'brilliant failure' maximizes learning while minimizing cost, making it a productive part of R&D. An 'epic failure' spends heavily but yields little insight, representing a true loss.

True innovation requires leaders to adopt a venture capital mindset, accepting that roughly nine out of ten initiatives will fail. This high tolerance for failure, mirroring professional investment odds, is a prerequisite for the psychological safety needed for breakthrough results.

Foster a culture of experimentation by reframing failure. A test where the hypothesis is disproven is just as valuable as a 'win' because it provides crucial user insights. The program's success should be measured by the quantity of quality tests run, not the percentage of successful hypotheses.

For ambitious 'moonshot' projects, the vast majority of time and effort (90%) is spent on learning, exploration, and discovering the right thing to build. The actual construction is a small fraction (10%) of the total work. This reframes failure as a critical and expected part of the learning process.

Seemingly costly failures provide the unique stories, data, and scars necessary to teach from experience. This authentic foundation is what allows an audience to trust your guidance, turning past losses into future credibility.

Entrepreneurs often view early mistakes as regrettable detours to be avoided. The proper framing is to see them as necessary, unskippable steps in development. Every fumble, pivot, and moment of uncertainty is essential preparation for what's next, transforming regret into an appreciation for the journey itself.

Instead of stigmatizing failure, LEGO embeds a formal "After Action Review" (AAR) process into its culture, with reviews happening daily at some level. This structured debrief forces teams to analyze why a project failed and apply those specific learnings across the organization to prevent repeat mistakes.

To foster an innovative team that takes big swings, leaders must create a culture of psychological safety. Team members must know they won't be fired for a failed experiment. Instead, failures should be treated as learning opportunities, encouraging them to be edgier and push boundaries.

Borrowing from filmmaking, view communication slip-ups not as failures but as different "takes." This reframes errors as opportunities to try a different approach next time, reducing fear and encouraging experimentation and growth.