Cost of failure is one of the biggest factors considered while deciding on any approach for any venture – a project, a product or the company itself. This cost determines how much can we experiment, deviate from norms and dare to think differently. If the cost is high, we try to tread on the safe path. Unfortunately this makes you focus more on the path than on the destination. Every single real world problem is unique in itself, and its solution has to be unique too. The safe paths usually take you only where others have gone, not where you have to go.
JP points towards very interesting links on failure, including this talk by Clay Shirky where he says that cost of the failure is reduced and distributed in the open source model.
The cost of failure is carried by the individuals at the edges of the network, while the value of the successes magnifies and value to the whole network.
A while back I had put my thoughts to why open source encourages innovation. Failure for free in open source is one of the biggest factors that allows for innovation. David Smith has some very valuable quotes on failure.
I have unconvincingly argued many times that financial pressure can curb innovation, and hide the true solution. But the cost of failure angle provides a better vision and better conviction to it. Of course this does not mean that businesses should throw all caution to air, but it does stress that they should expect failure, learn from it, consider a balanced approach, and even consider the open source.
August 17th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
[...] way to continuously build the software than open source. Handing over the code to the community fosters innovation and reduces cost of failure. This not only builds a continuous feedback loop but it also lets many others contribute to the [...]