Musings on Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Monday, December 01, 2003Economic Development and the Stigma of Failure
I read a terrific book titled Experimentation Matters, and it got me thinking again about organizing for experimentation and the need to think entrepreneurially:
Unfortunately, too many community leaders and economic development professionals cling to the dream of a silver bullet: a foolproof, single-factor, unambiguous solution...knowing take[s] precedence over trying and learning...As a consequence, innovation is slowed; missed opportunities accumulate; and economic development is inhibited...
Unless the distinction between failure and mistakes is made and concrete steps are taken to remove the stigma of failure, the future of economic development is likely to look a lot like the past. Economic development professionals need to be as skilled at entrepreneurship as the businesspeople they support. Similarly, they need to organize for experimentation in an environment characterized by collaboration and transparency rather than secrecy and centralization.
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