Impact Connect

“We never fail”. Mentioned by a senior public policymaker in Bangladesh. The issue was innovation in public service. That’s what I emphasized to senior government policymakers back in 2016, during a series of innovation reforms, policy dialogues, and public events I was involved in. At that time, I strongly believed that in innovation initiatives, failure is not just acceptable — it is essential. Mistakes are part of the learning process. I advocated for the government to develop a clear policy or guideline that embraces failure as a natural part of innovation in the public sector. It took a few years, but eventually, I was able to convince senior policymakers to allow space for mistakes and failures in the pursuit of innovation. My key argument was simple yet powerful: failure is not failure — it is experience, it is learning. This policy-level shift turned out to be incredibly valuable, especially for junior officers who were the real drivers of on-the-ground innovation. It e...

Failure is often mistaken for a misstep—an accident to be avoided. But over time, I’ve come to see it differently: failure is a valuable and necessary part of growth. Ten years ago, I believed failure was simply a mistake, something to be ashamed of. That mindset changed once I began to view failure as a crucial part of the learning process. From that point on, every failure became a lesson. Many still see failure as something accidental or unfortunate. This perspective is shaped by a society and education system that uses flawed, often biased tools to measure success—tools rooted in perception, status, and social norms. These standards influence how we think and often lead us astray. One of my most important realizations was understanding the contrast between a job mindset and an entrepreneurial mindset. For years, I operated within the limits of a job-focused way of thinking—prioritizing stability, routine, and comfort. Shifting to an entrepreneurial mindset, which values creativit...