Most failures aren’t failures. Unlearned lessons are.

We tend to think the National Audit Office will criticise projects that don’t succeed as a waste of public money. But according to Jonny Mood, the NAO’s Director, that’s not how it works.

Try something bold. It’s fine to fail. If you’re clear on what you were testing, tracked what you learned and fed it into what happens next, Jonny is quite clear: that’s good public spending, and he wants to see more of it.

In fact, what the NAO does criticise is doing something unclear, learning nothing and pretending it didn’t happen.

👉 You can hear my full discussion with Jonny Mood on the podcast.

Take Action

If you’re a leader

Set a new rule: failure is fine - but only if you’ve written down what you expected to happen, what you’ll measure and what you’ll do next. Then back teams who follow it, even when things ‘fail’.

If you’re a team member

Next time you’re asked for an excel-based business, offer up an experiment instead. Write down what you’re testing for. If anyone says you can’t, point to Jonny on my podcast.