QuoteProject
Want to increase innovation? Lower the cost of failure.
Joichi Ito
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Encouraging innovation involves making it easier to take risks without severe consequences.

Joichi Ito’s quote emphasizes that for innovation to flourish, organizations and individuals must create an environment where failure is not feared but rather accepted as a part of the creative process. By lowering the cost of failure, more people will be willing to experiment and push boundaries, leading to greater advancements and discoveries.

Themes

InnovationFailureRiskCreativityProgress

In practice

Example use cases

In a business meeting discussing new project proposals, this quote can encourage team members to take creative risks.

More from Joichi Ito

Consequently, the only thing I learned in school was typing. In the old days, people like me who don't have college degrees had a hard time thriving in society. But today, the ability to learn on your own or from your peers has become really easy. I think this change is leading to a fundamental disruption in education. Independent and lifelong learning are really starting to peak - there is an inflection point coming around how people learn.
Joichi ItoRead
If we destroy human rights and rule of law in response to terrorism, they have won.
Joichi ItoRead

Similar quotes

Predicting innovation is something of a self-canceling exercise: the most probable innovations are probably the least innovative.
P. J. O'RourkeRead
The breakthrough innovations come when the tension is greatest and the resources are most limited. That's when people are actually a lot more open to rethinking the fundamental way they do business.
Clayton M. ChristensenRead
I think frugality drives innovation, just like other constraints do. One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out.
Jeff BezosRead
When you innovate, you've got to be prepared for everyone telling you you're nuts.
Larry EllisonRead
You want to look at what other companies are doing. It's very important not to be hermetically sealed. But you don't want to look at it as if, 'OK, we're going to copy that.' You want to look at it and say, 'That's very interesting. What can we be inspired to do as a result of that?' And then put your own unique twist on it.
Jeff BezosRead
My view is there's no bad time to innovate.
Jeff BezosRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.