Most of us hate the idea of failure; of coming up short, missing the mark, and not achieving our goals. For some people, it’s enough to stop them from ever trying. They’d rather minimize the risk by lowering the bar—and their expectations. But what many accomplished people have come to learn is that failure is an indispensable ingredient of success. The trick is failing forward.
What is failing forward?
Put simply, failing forward means learning from failure, turning failure from a negative experience to a positive one. When you fail forward, you accept the idea that failure is a stepping stone to future success. You choose to respect failure for the lessons it teaches you and apply those lessons to future efforts, knowing that failure brings you closer to your goals.
What can be found in failure?
- Richer perspectives from trying different ways of doing things
- Continuous improvement by learning from past mistakes
- Resilience to keep trying when faced with challenging dilemmas
- Innovation through the testing and iteration of new ideas
- Motivation to eventually get it right
- Courage to see failure as an opportunity to learn
Fail first to learn fast
No one likes to fail, but everyone should. Research shows learners remember better and for far longer when they don’t immediately get the correct answer, in other words—when they fail first. Failing creates a stronger emotional response to the material, causing more retention.
I remember a time when my son was studying electrical engineering at the University of Central Florida. He was visiting home and was finishing up some physics problems before driving back to school. Most of the problems he blew through by looking up the appropriate formula. One particular problem, however, was giving him fits.
After struggling with it for about 30 minutes, he finally asked Dad to take a look. It had been way too many years since I took my last physics class, so I turned to Google and quickly located several pages of explanations on how to solve problems similar to his assignment. But when he tried following them, none gave the correct answer. So much for Dad’s help! And this was way before ChatGPT could be asked to explain it. Later that evening, he texted me to say that he had gotten back to campus safely and had solved the problem.
When my son came home again a few weeks later, he told us about the test he had just taken. “Dad,” he exclaimed, “five of the ten questions on the test were related to that same formula, and I know I aced them all!” When I asked him about the other five questions, he admitted that he was less than sure about those answers.
When someone fails first, it often invokes a stronger emotional response, and they spend more time processing. It seems reasonable that this increased energy, focus, and attention would result in better learning and retention—which is exactly what the research shows.
In their study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, Nate Kornell, Matthew Hays, and Robert Bjork, of UCLA showed how learners remember better and for far longer when they don’t immediately get the correct answer (i.e., when they fail first).
The same is true when implementing immersive scenario simulations. Post-simulation assessment typically shows that retention improves after responding incorrectly. Of course, for the learning to be effective, this must be immediately followed by feedback and rationale.
Guidelines to keep in mind when designing activities that provide the opportunity to fail forward:
#1 There should be a reasonable path to failure
Learners should not feel that they were tricked into failing. The information or context provided should present a reasonable framework for the anticipated incorrect response. However, the correct response should not depend on nuanced rationale. The reaction you want to generate once the right response is discovered is: “Ah, I see that.”
#2 Always provide feedback
Feedback should be delivered immediately to prevent learners from internalizing the incorrect response. Part of providing feedback or coaching is giving a clear and succinct rationale for the preferred response. Here’s how GenAI-augmented simulations provide real-time feedback for enhanced learning.
#3 Provide multiple opportunities for failure, but don’t overwhelm the learner
Carefully identify and sequence critical content areas. If every response leads to failure, the learner may get frustrated and disengage. The experience should present increasingly challenging dilemmas to maximize learner engagement.
#4 Ensure there are sufficient successes to maintain learner motivation
This is the corollary to #3 above. While failures maximize retention, successes maintain motivation. While some challenges should be designed to give individuals or teams of learners the opportunity to play in the gray; we also recommend incorporating dilemmas that are more likely to lead to quick resolution and encourage a “yeah, got that one” response. This response becomes more powerful and engaging precisely because the learner(s) has struggled and perhaps even failed previously.
Unleash the power of failing forward—sans the risk
Most employees are motivated to grow their skills and engage in creative and innovative behaviors at work when they are given the necessary psychological safety to take reasonable risks and find ways to do things better. That’s why simulations that allow learners to fail forward—without real-life consequences—can be so powerful.
Blueline’s proprietary ExperienceBUILDERTM platform takes failing forward to the next level, using GenAI to create highly contextualized and adaptive learning experiences. These unscripted simulations create an environment where learners can make mistakes, reflect, and iterate on their decisions, ultimately becoming more confident and capable in their roles.
The power of real-time feedback
A key feature of ExperienceBUILDER simulations is providing highly specific feedback which highlights something the learner did well and three actionable ways to improve. Each simulation is built around clearly defined best practices and common mistakes, which serve as the learning objectives and foundational elements. These key components ensure that the feedback is not only relevant but also aligned with the core principles that drive success in real-world scenarios within your organization.
Here’s an example where we purposefully input a less-than-optimal answer in an ExperienceBuilder demo. The simulation provides a score (-2) with actionable feedback on the response we provided:
Feedback that helps learners fail forward, fast!
During a recent ExperienceBUILDER demo, a potential client took the time to review the feedback after each interaction, learning and improving with every step. By the end of the session—just 40 minutes and four scenarios later—she said, “That was fun, and I just became a better leader.” She was able to refine her approach with each piece of feedback, making small improvements at every turn, thus increasing her success.
Our simulations provide tangible, actionable feedback that accelerates learning. It’s made me rethink the traditional approach—learners no longer need to master the content before diving into our simulations. Instead, our simulations allow learners to fail forward, iterating their way to success. And along the way, they build critical skills and develop new behaviors that last a lifetime.
Our passion is helping people and organizations to grow. And a few well-planned, risk-free failures along the way may be just what it takes to help get them there. Get in touch to learn more about our immersive scenario simulations.
