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Want to increase innovation? Lower the cost of failure.
Joichi Ito
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Encouraging innovation involves making it easier to take risks without severe consequences.

Joichi Ito’s quote emphasizes that for innovation to flourish, organizations and individuals must create an environment where failure is not feared but rather accepted as a part of the creative process. By lowering the cost of failure, more people will be willing to experiment and push boundaries, leading to greater advancements and discoveries.

Themes

InnovationFailureRiskCreativityProgress

In practice

Example use cases

In a business meeting discussing new project proposals, this quote can encourage team members to take creative risks.

More from Joichi Ito

Consequently, the only thing I learned in school was typing. In the old days, people like me who don't have college degrees had a hard time thriving in society. But today, the ability to learn on your own or from your peers has become really easy. I think this change is leading to a fundamental disruption in education. Independent and lifelong learning are really starting to peak - there is an inflection point coming around how people learn.
Joichi ItoRead
If we destroy human rights and rule of law in response to terrorism, they have won.
Joichi ItoRead

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