Extract from No Rules Rules, a book by Reed Hastings & Erin Mayer.

— Ask what learning came from the project

Often a failed project is a critical step in getting to success. Once or twice a year, at our product meetings, I ask all of our managers to complete a simple form outlining their bets from the last few years, divided into three categories: bets that went well, bets that didn't go well, and open bets. Then we break up into smaller groups and discuss the items in each category and what we've learned from each bet. This exercice reminds everyone that they are expected to implement bold ideas and that, as part of the process, some risks won't pay off. They see that making bets is not a question of individuals successes and failures but rather a learning process that, in total, catapults the business forward. It also helps newer people get used to admitting publicly that they screwed up on a bunch of stuff—as we all do.

— Don't make a big deal about it

First, if you take a bet and it fails, Reed will ask you what you learned. Second, if you try out something big and it doesn't work out, nobody will scream—and you won't lose your job.

— Ask her to "sunshine" the failure

If you make a bet and it fails, it's important to speak openly and frequently about what happened. If you're the boss, make it clear you expect all failed bets to be detailed out in the open. Chris could have brushed the failure under the table, blamed someone else, or pointed fingers defensively. Instead he showed great courage and leadership capacity by addressing the failed bet head-on.

<aside> <img src="/icons/star-outline_yellow.svg" alt="/icons/star-outline_yellow.svg" width="40px" /> if you want to know more about our failures, and what we learn from them, jump to ‣.

</aside>