Fail Fast, Succeed Sooner: Why Failure is Your Best Friend in New Product Development

In the world of New Product Development (NPD), failure often gets a bad rap. It's the boogeyman hiding under the bed, the dark cloud looming over every brainstorming session. But here’s a radical idea:

What if failure was actually a good thing?

What if, instead of fearing it, we embraced it as a crucial part of the innovation process?

Before you roll your eyes and click away, let me explain why failure might just be the secret ingredient to your next big success. Spoiler alert: some of the most innovative products we use today are the direct result of glorious, magnificent failures. I once learned from a manager in R&D that failure isn't something negative... Thank you Andy Schmitt ! :)

1. Failure is the Ultimate Teacher

Let’s be honest—nobody likes to fail. But when it happens, it teaches you more than success ever could. Failure shines a spotlight on the flaws, gaps, and oversights in your product, giving you a chance to fix them before it’s too late.

Take the example of WD-40. Yes, that trusty can of lubricant that’s probably sitting in your garage right now. The “WD” stands for “Water Displacement,” and the “40” is because it took the team 40 attempts to get the formula right. Imagine if they had given up after 39 tries! The lesson? Each failure brought them one step closer to a breakthrough.

2. Failure Sparks Creativity

When your initial plan goes belly-up, you’re forced to think outside the box. Failure pushes you to explore alternative solutions, leading to innovation that you might not have considered otherwise.

Consider the Post-it Note. The adhesive that makes Post-its stick was originally a failed attempt at creating a super-strong glue. Instead of throwing in the towel, the inventors at 3M repurposed the weak adhesive into a reusable sticky note, and voilà—a billion-dollar product was born.

3. Failure Builds Resilience

Innovation is not for the faint of heart. The road to success in NPD is paved with setbacks, and those who persevere through failure are the ones who ultimately succeed. Failure teaches resilience, a quality that’s absolutely essential in the world of product development.

Take Dyson, for instance. Sir James Dyson went through 5,126 failed prototypes before finally creating the world’s first bagless vacuum cleaner. Imagine that—over 5,000 failures! But each failure was a stepping stone to success, and now Dyson is synonymous with high-quality, innovative products.

4. Failure Leads to Unexpected Discoveries

Some of the best innovations are the ones nobody saw coming. Failure often leads to serendipity—those happy accidents where something goes wrong, but in the best possible way.

Penicillin, for example, was discovered when Alexander Fleming accidentally left a petri dish uncovered. The failure to properly store his experiment led to the growth of mold that had antibacterial properties. This “mistake” ended up revolutionizing medicine and saving countless lives.

Or take the example of the microwave oven. Percy Spencer was working on radar technology when he noticed that a chocolate bar in his pocket melted while he was standing near a magnetron. That failed experiment led to the development of the microwave oven, now a kitchen staple.

5. Failure Creates a Culture of Continuous Improvement

When failure is embraced, it fosters a culture of continuous improvement. Teams become more open to experimentation, knowing that failure is not the end but a valuable part of the learning process.

In NPD, this means products are constantly evolving, getting better with each iteration. Agile methodologies, which thrive on the principle of “fail fast, learn faster,” are a testament to how failure can drive continuous innovation. By iterating quickly, gathering feedback, and refining the product, teams can turn failures into fuel for success.

• Embrace the F Word

In conclusion, failure isn’t something to be feared or avoided—it’s something to be embraced. It’s the unsung hero of innovation, the stepping stone to success. So, the next time you hit a roadblock in your NPD project, don’t despair. Remember that failure is just success in disguise, waiting to be uncovered.

And who knows? Your next big breakthrough might be hiding in that very failure. After all, as the saying goes, “If at first you don’t succeed, call it version 1.0.”

So go ahead—fail big, fail often, and fail forward. Your next great product might just depend on it.