When we make mistakes we feel fear and shame. We feel that if other people find out that we are not capable, they will immediately disqualify us and we will no longer be accepted. This is universal, everyone experiences, in one way or another, fear of not belonging. It is an evolutionary feature of our species that has allowed us to thrive as social beings, but it is also deeply uncomfortable and no one wants to talk about it.

Failing is part of learning. But admitting that we fail in public or in front of our colleagues? That is another topic. In this blog we talk about how, from the UNDP Accelerator Lab in Mexico, we work to get rid of a taboo in the social sector: "The fear of sharing failure" and how this can help us develop better solutions to the challenges of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Vulnerability, an essential component for learning

In order for others to learn from our mistakes, we must first open ourselves to share our failures and be vulnerable; to show ourselves as we are, imperfect beings navigating a world full of uncertainty and learning as we go along what works and what doesn't. When we started thinking about this issue, we were not sure how this idea would resonate with UNDP. The people who work here are often perceived as experts, capable of resolving any situation and without much room for mistakes, given that public resources are used.

Of course, there are very capable and knowledgeable people, both with UNDP and in the rest of the public and social sector organizations, but the development challenges we face, such as climate change or the fight against poverty, are complex, depend on multiple factors and do not have a single recipe. To solve them effectively requires enormous effort and creativity. Everything we already know is made visible so that it can be replicated and scaled up. But failures happen and cannot and should not be swept under the rug.

It turns out that, contrary to our natural inclination to escape shame, showing ourselves as we are, with our mistakes and allowing ourselves to be vulnerable, is the best recipe for creating strong human connections and fostering collaborative spaces where innovation and creativity flourish. There is enough scientific evidence to support this fact, for example, here and here. But, in this blog we will try to explain it to you in a simple and intuitive way.

At the Lab we want to accelerate the way we learn to design solutions for the challenges facing society in order to achieve sustainable development. Challenges that we know are complex, interconnected and advancing at an accelerated pace. To do this, it is important to get hold of all the tools at our disposal and bring them closer to the people working in the social sector to help them reach their full potential. This includes creating favorable working environments for creativity and innovation.

Fuckup Night in UNDP

That's why on Friday December 13th we organized a Fuckup Night and a champions training workshop inside the UNDP country office by the Failure Institute. Fuckup Nights is a global movement founded in Mexico City that has revolutionized the business world by organizing talks where people share personal stories of professional failure. They have active chapters in over 300 cities in 90 countries. Their events help establish new paradigms of personal and professional development by fostering vulnerability, authenticity and empathy. Failure Institute is the operating branch that has brought the movement's experiences, models and knowledge to corporations, NGOs, governments and development agencies in dozens of countries.

Such an event had not occurred before in UNDP Mexico. In the organization, there are other spaces of opportunity to generate learning, but none so directly related to vulnerability and empathy. Therein lies the power of this approach, as it creates a safe and open space to challenge the traditional way of looking at failure, opens up the possibility of changing the current paradigm, and helps people develop a new social-emotional skill. All of this makes us a team that is better prepared to achieve the SDGs.

Failure, in any context, feels horrible. Failing on a development project, knowing that those resources could have made a difference and didn't, feels worse. That is why it is such a great responsibility to make the most of the learning potential of failure. So that resources are never spent in vain.

On that day, the foundations were laid to promote a cultural change in the organization and we were all excited to think about this possibility of transformation. Of course, there was also skepticism and doubts from people who attended as to whether it is "really" possible to feel comfortable showing vulnerability. It's a huge challenge, so in our next post, we'll share several strategies based on what we learned and recommendations you can follow to be part of the change. Whether you work in UNDP or any other social sector organization.

You can also use this channel to share with us. Do you have a failure story you want to share with us from which you have learned something valuable for the social sector? Share with us and we will help you socialize it. At the Accelerator Lab we are creating the world's largest and most agile learning network on sustainable development challenges.