I’ve recently been discussing the concept of ‘convincing failure’ with my colleagues
It was first shared as a post by Boz, CTO at Meta.
The idea is that there are two types of failure: abject failure and convincing failure.
How do these two failure types work in practise?
Let’s say a team has penned down their strategy, and now it’s time to execute.
If the team executes poorly—they mismanage, are distracted, and don’t follow the plan—this is an abject failure.
However, if you execute to a high standard, one where it’d be “unlikely that another team, even with more time and effort, could succeed”, that’s a convincing failure. Under this scenario, perfect execution of the plan let’s you know that you got your strategy wrong, and you can learn something meaningful for the next iteration, project, or venture.
It’s a helpful way to frame up potential outcomes. Failure is OK, but make sure it’s a convincing failure.