A business choice backfiring or flopping can feel like a tough blow. Like all the time and resources poured into it were useless, a waste.

However, while there may obviously be consequences for missteps, many leaders and companies have tried a different approach. Without a certain amount of risk, it becomes harder to find original alternatives that can change the game.

This is how e.l.f. Beauty’s CMO, Kory Marchisotto, feels about failures. They’re teachers, green lights to move forward with a lesson. She sees the benefits that come with them.

In her conversation with Ben Kaplan for TOP CMO, Kory reveals how e.l.f. Beauty’s fail-forward culture creates the conditions for innovation to happen. Learn all about her philosophy below!

The safety net

If employees fear the outcome an error may cause, they will never dare to do anything out of the norm. Who would want to risk failing if, say, their job was on the line?

It is essential for the organization as a whole (starting from the C-suite) to foster an environment of tranquility and a consequence-free zone for mistakes. Of course, at the same time, a sense of responsibility should also be encouraged.

As this concept becomes more and more ingrained into your company’s culture, new, original, possibly crazy-sounding ideas will pop up. 

While many may not succeed, some probably will. And the others will likely lead to alternatives that never would have come up if it hadn’t been for that initial error.

Strive to provide your workforce with a safety net that will always be there to catch them, no danger attached.

Traveling light

Once you start the testing journey, you need to make sure you don’t get too protective of your original plans. That’s the beauty of it: switching it up constantly.

Perhaps what you first intended to do got you through the first steps, but then you encounter a new problem your original strategy can’t solve. 

Becoming adaptable and not getting too attached to any vision is key. Especially when you need to work fast.

For a quick-paced trial-and-error process, it’s crucial to admit the failure, accept it, learn from it, and find a new option in as little time as possible.

As a leader, it’s important for you to champion this mindset for the whole team. If everyone is on the same page, the collective effort will guarantee a swift journey of growth.

Continuous improvement

Much as you shouldn’t hold on to just any idea, it is always essential to be able to look at the failed strategy and find the parts that actually worked. Not all missteps need to be scrapped entirely.

Unsuccessful attempts usually carry feedback and data that can help you find what to keep and what to change. Instead of cleaning the slate, sometimes it comes down to reworking the previous version.

This is the mindset of continuous improvement: always being open to evolving strategies and messages.

Failures aren’t just failures, they’re also stepping stones necessary to reach higher grounds. It’s all about finding a balance between not holding on too tight and not letting go of the truly valuable findings.

Onward and upward

Embracing missteps, misfires, and mistakes can be scary. Some failures seem catastrophic. It feels safer to stick to the status quo.

However, as a leader, if you strive to be a pioneer and take the world by storm, innovation and revolution become mandatory. And it’s only achievable through testing.

It’s up to you to create an environment where your employees can come up with ideas, try them out, fix their bugs, and try again, without fearing the outcome.

As you push forward, encourage everyone to switch it up constantly and develop a sharp eye for the issues and benefits each alternative carries. 

But the bottom line is making sure everyone is on the same page. A person is only as creative as the culture allows them to be.

Become that safe space. Be empathetic. And, like e.l.f. Beauty’s Kory Marchisotto, always fail forward.

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