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Rising from Failure and Learning from Success: The Role of Past Experience in Radical Initiative Taking

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  • Dirk Deichmann

    (Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands; and VU University Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Jan van den Ende

    (Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands)

Abstract

We investigate how the successes and failures of people who initiate radical ideas influence (a) the inclination to take new personal initiatives and (b) the outcome of those initiatives. Using the data of 1,792 radical ideas suggested by 908 employees in a multinational firm’s idea and innovation program, we unexpectedly find that failures, rather than successes, of initiators increase the likelihood of repeat initiative taking. We confirm our hypothesis that involving initiators with prior success in initiative taking has a positive effect on the outcome of a subsequent radical initiative. Our findings illustrate how learning unfolds in the context of radical initiatives and provide insights into how managers can support continuous and superior radical initiative taking.

Suggested Citation

  • Dirk Deichmann & Jan van den Ende, 2014. "Rising from Failure and Learning from Success: The Role of Past Experience in Radical Initiative Taking," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(3), pages 670-690, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:25:y:2014:i:3:p:670-690
    DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2013.0870
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    Cited by:

    1. Dirk Deichmann & Michael Jensen, 2018. "I can do that alone…or not? How idea generators juggle between the pros and cons of teamwork," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(2), pages 458-475, February.
    2. Gwendolyn K. Lee & Joseph Lampel & Zur Shapira, 2020. "After the Storm Has Passed: Translating Crisis Experience into Useful Knowledge," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(4), pages 1037-1051, July.
    3. Deichmann, Dirk & Gillier, Thomas & Tonellato, Marco, 2021. "Getting on board with new ideas: An analysis of idea commitments on a crowdsourcing platform," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(9).
    4. Balzano, Marco & Marzi, Giacomo, 2023. "Exploring the pathways of learning from project failure and success in new product development teams," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    5. Qun Chen & Ji-Wen Li & Jian-Guo Liu & Jing-Ti Han & Yun Shi & Xun-Hua Guo, 2021. "Borrower Learning Effects: Do Prior Experiences Promote Continuous Successes in Peer-to-Peer Lending?," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 963-986, August.
    6. Qun Chen & Ji-Wen Li & Jian-Guo Liu & Jing-Ti Han & Yun Shi & Xun-Hua Guo, 0. "Borrower Learning Effects: Do Prior Experiences Promote Continuous Successes in Peer-to-Peer Lending?," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-24.
    7. Dahlander, Linus & Beretta, Michela & Thomas, Arne & Kazemi, Shahab & Fenger, Morten H.J. & Frederiksen, Lars, 2023. "Weeding out or picking winners in open innovation? Factors driving multi-stage crowd selection on LEGO ideas," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(10).
    8. Hendrik Wilhelm & Andreas W. Richter & Thorsten Semrau, 2019. "Employee Learning from Failure: A Team-as-Resource Perspective," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(4), pages 694-714, July.
    9. James H. Love & Stephen Roper & Priit Vahter, 2020. "Do Firms Really Learn From Failure? The Dynamics Of Abandoned Innovation," University of Tartu - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Working Paper Series 124, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu (Estonia).
    10. Deichmann, Dirk & Moser, Christine & Birkholz, Julie M. & Nerghes, Adina & Groenewegen, Peter & Wang, Shenghui, 2020. "Ideas with impact: How connectivity shapes idea diffusion," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).
    11. Tsinopoulos, Christos & Yan, Ji & Sousa, Carlos M.P., 2019. "Abandoning innovation activities and performance: The moderating role of openness," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(6), pages 1399-1411.
    12. Ji-Wen Li & Qinghui Cui & Jia-Jia Zhang, 2021. "Examining failure learning in online lending: Complete failure vs. incomplete failure," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(11), pages 1-17, November.
    13. Jeoung Yul Lee & Alfredo Jiménez & Timothy M. Devinney, 2020. "Learning in SME Internationalization: A New Perspective on Learning From Success versus Failure," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 60(4), pages 485-513, August.
    14. Khalil Rhaiem & Nabil Amara, 2021. "Learning from innovation failures: a systematic review of the literature and research agenda," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 189-234, February.
    15. Schweisfurth, Tim G. & Dharmawan, Magha P., 2019. "Does lead userness foster idea implementation and diffusion? A study of internal shopfloor users," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 289-297.

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