Who said fail quickly

Singapore schools need to imbue students with tech skills as well as the Silicon Valley mindset of "fail fast, learn quickly" so that they can create the technology of the future, he said. A Smart Nation Programme Office has been set up. Headed by Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan, it aims to get citizens, government and industry players to use technology and smart solutions to make life better.

Examples include using sensors to monitor the movements of the elderly at home for illness or falls, and developing 3D maps layered with information.

As PM Lee said: "Imagine if we can tap on everyone's local knowledge and anyone can contribute data: animal sightings, traffic incidents, potential hazards for cyclists, even the best mee pok or nasi lemak!

Dr Balakrishnan said: "There will be many failed projects, but we need to learn and persevere in the face of these failures, not give up in despair. Our attitude to success and failure must change. It applies to start-up entrepreneurs and corporate executives who have to penetrate the fog of uncertainty when building new technologies, products or services. Lean methodology means focusing on continuous experimentation and validating business hypotheses with customers to find out what works.

It means getting a quick viable product out the door that customers can use and give feedback on, and using that feedback to improve the product. Businesses these days have to adopt this concept because "customer demand is relentless and product life cycles continually shrink", said Mr Anthony.

As serial entrepreneur Ong Peng Tsin noted, start-ups create new technologies, products or services. In such an environment, "it would be foolish to assume you know things that it's not possible to know until you build it". People who attempt to create new things "must be willing to fail again and again" until they find the right mix that will "win in today's competitive business environment", he added. TAKE bemyguest. It started in as an online portal for people to buy travel packages and book local tours and activities.

Co-founder Clement Wong tracked the business but found that six months later, travellers had not picked up on the idea. He recalled: "We quickly assessed the situation.

We realised we're up against the bigger portals like AirBnb which was selling accommodation. So we pivoted, focusing on selling local tours and activities. Within three months we changed our portal, and soon business picked up. Today, bemyguest. It is an example of a product that failed at first because customers were cool to the idea.

But there was nothing wrong with the underlying technology. Instead, it is a step toward the fulfillment of your goals. Do you have a favorite inspirational quote about failure?

Please share with us in the comments. Looking for some extra inspiration today? Photo credit: yevkusa via Flickr cc. You learn by doing and falling over. Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again. It's built on failure. It's built on frustration. Sometimes it's built on catastrophe. Agile got its roots in the software development space, specifically via the introduction of Manifesto for Software Development in Agile also includes frequent checkpoints with the customer—where the customer is an integral part of the development team—which allows there to be frequent and timely changes to the software service or product that is in development.

Often there are self-organizing teams in a true Agile environment, too. When I was a kid, I watched cartoons, and I watched the Muppets. But cartoons are not Muppets—and vice-versa—yet I would never suggest they were the same thing. Sure, they entertained me, but Jim Henson would be rolling in his grave if you confused the Muppets or Sesame Street for a cartoon.

Instead of calmly and intelligently iterating, employees race to complete something failing while racing to the next objective as quickly as possible. To succeed, we must be open to failure—sure—but the intention is to ensure we are learning from our mistakes as we tweak, reset, and then redo if necessary. Time is our most precious resource.