fbpx No Success Without Learning To Fail | Reconstructing Judaism

No Success Without Learning To Fail

News

“Fail Forward” is the mantra of entrepreneurs. Take risks. You will fail, guaranteed. Learn from it.  Once a little smarter, boldly launch again. Instead of meeting failure with crimson shame and pink slips, entrepreneurs believe, as Robert Kennedy did, “to achieve greatness, you have to fail greatly.”

David Bryfman, Chief Innovation Officer at The Jewish Education Project, introduced the concept of “fail forward” at a Jewish Futures Conference in New York City.

“I’m quite proud the community has embraced the idea. I hear the phrase ‘fail forward’ repeated more than anything else I’ve put out there.” An innovation guru who keynotes from London to Jerusalem to Sydney, David confesses it is a lot easier to teach fail forward than to enact it.

David recounts his own journey of learning to fail forward. It takes time to embrace the idea “that you can both have high standards and recognize we are not going to get everything right.” David says, “I try to let people I work with know that we are all in this together. If they fail, we all fail.” To ensure his team feels safe enough to take risks, including the risk of failure, David applies lessons he learned from a very unexpected teacher—a funder.

The Jim Joseph Foundation, a national grant maker committed to fostering compelling, effective Jewish learning experiences for young Jews, has been David’s mentor in learning to fail forward. As Foundation professionals work with him to reshape teen engagement, David notes, they consistently model this best practice of failing forward. David strives to replicate lessons learned from the Foundation with his own team.

Lessons learned:

1. Earn Trust

As the Foundation began working with David, they sought information not easily discerned from a grant proposal or a resume. They wanted to know David as a person. They also wanted him to get to know them. “A couple of years ago, I was at a conference in Florida,” recalls David. “A senior program officer at the Jim Joseph Foundation said ‘let’s go for a walk. We are not going to talk about business. We are going to talk about our lives.’” Skill alone doesn’t earn the trust needed to navigate unchartered territory. Character matters. Anyone who knows David, affectionately referred to as Bryfy, knows he is a principled man.

“Trust goes both ways,” remarks David. “I know the Foundation is not trying to catch me. We have mutuality and respect. Once you experience that, there is not a long jump to say we are in this together.”

David works to build mutual trust with his own staff. Despite working at a “million miles an hour like all entrepreneurs do,” David says he forces himself to slow down to spend time with his team. When he doesn’t, the team suffers. Without that time, “you don’t really get to know someone to build the trust.” Despite his best intentions, the day to day sometimes leaves him wishing for more relationship time.

2. Kill Blame, Enliven Inquiry

Too often, non-profit leaders fear retribution for failing to meet funders’ expectations. The Jim Joseph Foundation, says David, understands that innovation only happens through learning from successes and failures that naturally occur on the innovation path. “We have not been worried about our failures when we have tried something that has never been done before. The Foundation has stood behind its multi-year commitment to work with us to keep improving.”

Post-mortems on data follow the Foundation’s agenda of inquiry:  

What did we learn this week?

How could we have done things differently?

What can we do from our side to make success even more likely?

David works with the executive team at The Jewish Education Project to create a culture of inquiry and learning. By providing regular professional development, David ensures his team has the time and the skills to collect data, analyze it, learn from it and be agile enough to re-direct strategy based on what is learned. Learning to fail forward is a long-term commitment. Removing blame and replacing it with inquiry and learning enables The Jewish Education Project to be a national leader in educational innovation.

3. Be Accountable

Failure is an engine of innovation only when it is accompanied by accountability. Holding people responsible for assigned work, deadlines and outputs is imperative. David is happy to do the required reporting to the Foundation. Accountability is a practice he experiences with the Foundation through formal channels like regular reports, and through more informal but regular communication.

David strives to replicate the “just right” balance of failure and accountability with his team. “I have high expectations and high standards,” David notes. “We try new things all the time. If we don’t do it right the first time, I don’t care. The second time it is slightly clearer what has to be adjusted. But by the third time, I have some serious issues.” David says his message is “There is room for learning over time. Together, we have a fail forward mindset. And you have to be held to the highest standards.”

There is no success without learning to fail. David is learning, teaching and enacting this key entrepreneurial mantra. He is willing to reveal honestly how hard it is to instill the practice of fail forward. He also insists it is necessary to earn trust, enable inquiry and hold people accountable so they can take risks, learn from failure and innovate for our changing world. David is willing to do the hard work of failing, because not succeeding has cosmic ramifications.

“What keeps me up at night?” he tells me, is the question.  “How will this work make the Jewish people better off?”

 

Click here to subscribe by email

Vice President for Engagement and Innovation, Reconstructing Judaism

Related Resources

News and Blogs

The "Next Normal" and Our Movement

The last sixteen months of the pandemic have highlighted the necessity of community as something both poignant and urgent.  With many of us physically removed from our “normal” sites of gathering (i.e., workplaces, schools, cultural venues, “third spaces,” places of worship), we’ve learned to cultivate relationships online, to use digital tools to create new places of meeting and connection, and to experiment with alternative and even more accessible forms of engagement.  Despite the very real challenges of long-term isolation and Zoom fatigue, we’ve found new ways to experience community, to address pragmatic needs, and to fill our souls.

News

Key Tips For Talking With News Professionals: A Resource for Community Leaders

Positive media coverage can amplify your voice, inform the public about key issues and build further credibility for your community. At the same time, a negative story can negatively impact your community’s reputation. Here are key tips for speaking with journalists.

Article
News and Blogs

Reconstructionist Affiliates, Rabbis Push for More Just Immigration System

Rooted in the Jewish textual tradition and lived experience, Reconstructionist communities are aiding immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers through direct service, education and advocacy.

News

How Your Community Can Help Immigrants, Refugees and Asylum Seekers

Looking for ways your community can get involved in immigration issues, directly assist a family, or advocate for systematic change? This resource offer a number of concrete steps your community can take.

Article

Resources on Synagogue Safety, Security, and Equity/Jewish Values

Digital resources on synagogue security and related issues, as shared with Reconstructionist communities in late April of 2019. 

Article
News and Blogs

What Does a Thriving Synagogue Look Like?

Synagogues are a means, not an end in themselves. But thriving synagogues contribute to Judaism’s goal: to create healthy individuals, thriving communities, flourishing Jewish life, interconnected human life and a sustainable planet.

News
News and Blogs

The Aviv Revolving Loan Fund Helps Synagogues and Havurot Spring Into Growth

The Aviv Revolving Loan Fund is one way that Reconstructing Judaism is marshaling its resources to strengthen affiliated communities and foster innovation.

News
News and Blogs

Reconstructionist Movement Updates

Though we count time Jewishly, by any consideration the secular year 2018 is an exciting year for the Reconstructionist movement.

News

Surviving in the One-Room Schoolhouse

In this classic article, Rabbi Julie Greenberg explores successful mixed-age classrooms in Jewish schools. 

Article

Making Our Synagogues Vessels of Tikkun Olam

This article is adapted from a talk at the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation Tikkun Olam Kallah, March 2003.

Document
News and Blogs

When the Call Comes, Will Your Congregation Be Ready?

Best practices in responding to congregational inquiries.

News

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Family Education Series

This three-part family education series addresses issues related to bar/bat mitzvah. It is designed for a large group of parents and students and uses active learning exercises. It covers issues around Jewish identity, the meaning of bar/bat mitzvah, and common concerns that parents and students have about the process.

Document

Building the Jewish Future

Rabbi Sid Schwarz describes a lifetime of building new Jewish organizations that meet the Jewish community’s ever-changing needs. 

Article