June 2024
Failure is your friend
Creating disability culture change off the side of your desk as a disability ERG/Network leader is hard work. It takes great skill and even the most experienced ERG/Network leaders know that mistakes are guaranteed, and that failure is an inevitable part of the process when you want to get things done.
“Intelligent failure” is a phrase coined by Professor Amy Edmondson in her 2023 book, Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well. In the book, Edmondson outlines how organisations and leaders can fail well when mistakes or failures result in useful learning and better outcomes.
The most impactful disability ERG/Network leaders view difficult experiences as teachable moments and an opportunity to create a culture of openness, where others feel comfortable in admitting when mistakes have been made and sharing ways to learn from them.
This month we encourage you to consider:
- How do keep going in the face of failures and setbacks?
- How would reframing mistakes as ‘intelligent failure’ change the way you lead your ERG/Network?
Peer Leadership Roundtables
One of the most valuable aspects of PurpleSpace membership is the opportunity to build your leadership capacity via quality conversation with other disability ERG/Network leaders.
Each month we convene groups of disability ERG/Network leaders to stimulate discussion on the monthly leadership lesson.
Connect with your peers during these interactive one-hour sessions for disability ERG/Network leaders. These sessions are a great way to share good practice and challenges, swap ideas and build your ERG/Network leadership capacity.
In June, we have two sessions to choose from to explore the art of failing well:
#PositivelyPurple Strategic Forum
The #PositivelyPurple Strategic Forum extending the #PositivelyPurple movement (formerly #PurpleLightUp) to ensure a universal, global and life-affirming celebration of the contribution of employees with disabilities as a mark of respect to the UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
The next forum meeting is on the 16th of June at 16:00 GMT / 11:00 EDT
Contact kirstie@purplespace.org for more information.
PurpleSpace and External Useful Resources
Tap into our Networkology know-how and check out some of the external learning that links to this month’s leadership lesson:
- Good things happen when leaders reflect on their mistakes
- Forbes – 5 tips to bounce back from a mistake
- Diary of a CEO Matthew Syed - World’s leading mindset expert talking about how to reach your full potential Matthew Syed and how our fear of failure can destroy our capacity to grow.
- Astro Teller - "The Unexpected Benefit of Celebrating Failure" - Astro Teller, the head of Google X discusses how embracing failure can lead to breakthrough innovations.
- Angela Lee Duckworth - "Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance" - Angela Duckworth's talk explores the concept of grit, which she defines as the combination of passion and perseverance.