The Museum of Failure
June 26, 2017 - Mistakes in Education
We are to afraid to make mistakes, that’s not only a soft conclusion from my cultural probe study on mistakes but also the opinion of Samuel West, director of the Museum of Failure in Sweden. Why are mistakes that important in design and innovation?
Mistakes are leading to innovation. And we need to acknowledge the value of mistakes just the same as we acknowledge successes. The museum isn’t a depressing place to be, it is supposed to be a positive learning environment.
We can only move towards the future if we dare to make mistakes
Samuel West is a former clinical psychologist, with a PhD in innovation. He is tired from hearing only success stories. Conferences, podcasts, books: We always focus on the golden eggs. According to West, we make failures inadmissible. Designers are increasingly bothered to open up mistakes, while we should actually praise them. It’s cliche but true: you can learn from mistakes.