There are pitfalls when you’re in a group that’s underrepresented in the workplace. When you’re in a minority of gender, race, or age (or a combination of any of these!), you will most likely face some challenges. But one peril I only recently considered is resistance to a “culture of failure.”
This is significant because tech seems to have embarked on a bromance with failure culture. And because this culture is designed to promote innovation, I’d be surprised if it disappeared anytime soon.
Origins of failure culture
Since Carol Dweck’s seminal book, Mindset, and her popular TED Talk, The Power of Believing You Can Improve, there’s been lots of chatter about what she advocates, which is a growth mindset over fixed mindset. Intersect this with Eric Reis’s Lean Startup methodology, which begins with releasing a Minimum Viable Product, learning from it, and then taking the learnings to iterate. Rinse and repeat. This experimentation philosophy and protocol requires openness to failure. Only through failure will the company learn enough to gain product/market fit and eventually get traction. Thus, innovative companies require a culture where failure is OK, even celebrated as being one step closer to a win.
Why underrepresented employees may resist
There’s a problem with this, though, for those who are underrepresented at the company. These folks know–or at least “feel keenly”–that they are living on the edge. They may well have experienced discrimination in hiring. They need to keep their jobs because it will be very difficult to find another. Risk in the workplace? No thank you.
What if the product failure sinks the company? What if leadership actually blames the team or the individual, only giving lip service to failure? What if…?” What if…?” For the person who can’t afford to lose their job because they believe they may be unable to find another, those “What ifs” can restrain any willingness to take risks, even when reassured by founders that this is the ethos of the company.
Mid- and late-career employees come with additional baggage. This isn’t their first job and most of their experience may have predated this trend. Their experience may instead likely have been a culture of blame. The culture of blame breeds a fear of failure, which leads to taking fewer risks, as well as covering up any failures that do happen.
How to create a culture of failure that wins–for everyone
Does all this mean that underrepresented employees can’t thrive in a culture of failure? Not at all. Like seemingly any other challenge involving humans, the first step to solving it is empathy: Leadership must understand what’s at stake for this employee group. Once this is recognized, they can then put guard rails in place to create safety. Some good steps are outlined here and include structured communication and feedback.
Ultimately, most good employees want to grow and learn in their jobs. A culture of failure actually promotes that. But team leaders must acknowledge that underrepresented employees may be starting from a different place than others. From there, put structures in place–and demonstrate empathy–to help these individuals and the company move forward.