Celebrate Failure

Businesses often find it hard to accept that innovation goes hand in hand with failure. "On a good day, nine out of 10 efforts will fail," Andrews says. "You want the failures to be as good a learning experience as the successes."

But doing that means changing the way companies view and even how they talk about unsuccessful projects. For instance, Andrews says, you might talk about a "failed idea" but not a "failed team." Instead of talking about "killing" an idea or project, refer to it as "putting it on the back burner." And if someone comes to you with an idea, don't point out all the things that are wrong with it; ask the person how they can make it even better for the customer, giving it a chance to morph into something successful. This attitude can promote thoughtful risk-taking because people will be less afraid of presenting ideas without a lot of data to back themselves up, Andrews says.

In fact, innovative companies often celebrate failure -- literally. W.L. Gore Associates Inc., best known as the developer of Gore-Tex fabric, is known to end unsuccessful projects with champagne. Others hold "failure parties" in which refreshments are served and managers share with the staff their own failed project experiences.

Some use humor. After a new in-flight snack idea was tested on JetBlue and then quickly jettisoned, "no one was fired or deeply chagrined," Thompson says. In fact, the episode became an entertainment device, as a picture of the innovator was posted on the company intranet, along with a contest to write an essay on why the change was silly. "There's a cultural acceptance that we're going to make mistakes once in a while if we're going to be innovative," Thompson says.