Reward Defiance and Heroic Failure

Actions speak louder than words. If you want to change a corporate culture which is comfortable and risk averse into one which is adventurous and entrepreneurial then fine words are not enough. The leader needs to send some powerful signals through deeds.

A famous incident in the history of HP concerns the awarding of a ‘Medal of Defiance.’ In 1982 the co-founder of the company and chairman of the Board, David Packard, awarded a Medal of Defiance to Charles (Chuck) House for ‘extraordinary contempt and defiance beyond the normal call of engineering duty.’ The citation goes on to say, ‘ In total defiance of adverse market studies and surveys concluding the existence of a worldwide market of no more than 50 total large screen electrostatic displays, Charles H. House, using all means available – principally pen, tongue, and airplane to extol an unrecognized technical contribution, planted the seeds for a new market resulting in the shipment of 17,769 large screen displays to date.’

Chuck House had followed his own entrepreneurial instincts to pursue a development project which his bosses had ordered to be cancelled. His persistence paid off. Packard was reputedly worried that HP was becoming too bureaucratic so he deliberately singled out House for praise for breaking the rules. The story raced around the company and passed into its folklore.

Tom Myhren of advertising agency, Leo Burnett, was responsible for the Cadillac advert shown in the 2006 Super Bowl. It was a spectacular flop and cost the agency the account which was valued at $300m. In 2007 he left Leo Burnett and became chief creative officer at the Grey Agency in New York where he went on to great success and was named President of the company in 2010. The Super Bowl experience changed his attitude to failure. He said, ‘I had a big public failure and, having gone through that, I really admired the people that supported me and especially admired the people who gave me the chance the next year to try to do it again.’ He launched a Heroic Failure Award, which recognises someone whose approach was an epic fail. The trophy remains with the winner until the next big failure. It was won by a team which created the 2010 E*Trade baby commercial that claimed Lindsay Lohan was a “milkaholic.” The actress issued a $100m lawsuit against E*Trade.

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Tata has a Dare to Try Award. It recognises and rewards the most ‘novel, daring and seriously attempted ideas that did not achieve their desired results’. In 2013 it attracted some 240 entries.

Many CEOs say that they encourage experimentation and failure but their words are not enough. Failure still has serious connotations for most people. They fear that failure might spell disaster for their career so they play it safe. If you want people to defy convention and try entrepreneurial ventures then you should recognise and reward their defiance and heroic failures.

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This post was previously published on Destination Innovation.

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