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Washington D.C


Failing forward in action

"I am seeing the development of more workgroups within the agency that are inclusive and represent the voice of the agency and this will greatly impact efforts toward process improvement."

D.C. Government Employee

Top barriers to Failing Forward

  • Little time to reflect and learn when things aren't going to plan

  • Exclusion of frontline workers from decision-making processes

  • Lacking empowerment of frontline workers in their existing responsibilities

Top ideas to embrace Failing Forward

  • Reduce unnecessary or redundant meetings

  • Reduce unnecessary or redundant meetings

  • Create processes to share frontline workers' strengths and providing more feedback

How to Fail (Forward)


A framework for fostering innovation in the public sector.

Drawing on our experience working with six local governments, we first investigate why it is so difficult for those in local government to learn from failures. Second, we consider what department leaders can do to build the conditions in which they and their teams can fail forward.

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