Stop saying ‘Fail Fast’ – it’s terrible advice

When was the last time someone congratulated you for making a mistake? Can’t remember? Exactly.

Everyone in the innovation scene loves repeating the mantra: “Fail Fast.” As if it were some sacred rule—fail quickly, learn a lot, and somehow, success will magically appear. But let’s be real: what a load of nonsense! Nobody starts a company or an innovation project with the goal of crashing as fast as possible. The only thing “Fail Fast” truly accomplishes? It creates a culture where failure is celebrated as progress, instead of something that actually generates value.

Failure is not a strategy, it just hurts

Let’s get one thing straight: mistakes happen. But they should never be the goal. If you focus on failing fast, that’s exactly what you’ll do—fail. Over and over again. And what do you actually learn from chaotic failure? Usually nothing. The most valuable insights come from structured experiments, not from blindly crashing and burning. If you celebrate failure instead of systematically learning from controlled tests, you’re just wasting time, money, and resources.

Failure as self-blame – experiments as knowledge generators

Failure is often seen as personal fault—if you fail, it’s your own doing. And that’s the problem with “Fail Fast”: it encourages people to recklessly smash ideas into walls and then hide behind the excuse of “learning.” But if innovation is real, it’s not about failing—it’s about running experiments. And here’s the key difference: experiments are designed for knowledge generation.

Unlike failure, you’re not held accountable for the economic outcome of an experiment—you’re responsible for the methodology and logic behind it. The company (the subject) is responsible for managing innovation, but not for the success of any individual experiment (the object). This means that instead of glorifying failure, companies should build a systematic culture of experimentation—one that tests hypotheses, collects data, and extracts meaningful insights.

“Almost failed” is more valuable than “completely failed”

The biggest goldmine in innovation isn’t total failure—it’s the experiments that almost worked. When a prototype is close to working, it means there’s something worth exploring. This is where companies should focus. Why didn’t it work? Which assumption was wrong? What needs to change? These questions lead to real innovation—not blindly checking off another failed idea.

Experiments, not failures, drive innovation

If you’re serious about innovation, you don’t need a system for failing—you need a system for experimentation. Good experiments are repeatable, provide measurable insights, and help steer the next steps. Bad failures, on the other hand, are just expensive. So stop selling “Fail Fast” as an innovation strategy. Instead, build a culture where experiments are intelligently designed and executed.

Stop repeating dumb mistakes (and failing fast)

Innovation isn’t about making the same dumb mistakes a hundred others have already made. Learn from others, build on existing insights, and stop wasting time with glorified failure. If you want to succeed, don’t ask: “How can we fail faster?” Ask: “How can we test smarter?”

The five key paragraphs:

• Failure Is not a strategy – Mistakes happen, but they shouldn’t be the goal.

• Failure as self-blame – Experiments as knowledge generators – Failure is personal, experiments are methodological; responsibility is in the process, not the outcome.

• “Almost failed” Is more valuable than “completely failed” – The best insights come from near-successes.

• Experiments, not failures, drive innovation – Structured testing leads to progress, reckless failure does not.

• Stop repeating dumb mistakes – Learn from others instead of blindly making the same errors.

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