In leadership, there’s a quiet pressure to always get it right. The right strategy, the right hire, the right decision. Yet across environments focused on change, whether launching, scaling or transforming, I’ve experienced something that challenges this expectation: when everything works the first time, it often means we didn’t push our assumptions far enough.
You get what you reward. Organisations that reward predictability and efficiency will naturally see more of both, often at the cost of experimentation and new thinking. There is a place for predictability; it brings stability, consistency and certainty. But is it coming at the cost of growth and progress?
Growth comes from stretching beyond what’s safe and predictable, where the risk of failure is higher and mistakes are part of the process. So is the potential reward of unlocking new possibilities and better ways of operating. That’s why getting it wrong matters just as much as getting it right. Sometimes more.
In resilient, psychologically safe environments, getting it wrong can signal forward momentum. Mistakes are treated as data, feedback is used to learn, and reflection happens without defensiveness. The learning becomes part of how the organisation moves forward.
With AI changing how we work, learning organisations that can adjust, learn and move forward from mistakes quickly will have the advantage.
The next time everything goes as planned, it may be worth asking: what are we rewarding—growth or consistency? And what more could have been possible if we had pushed harder?