1. Words by Andrew London, Design by Matt Roundell
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Strong
But Wrong
The art of making good mistakes
that lead to better work

2. Velocity Partners — Strong But Wrong 2
I don’t know about you, but I’m
seeing (and let’s be honest, making)
a lot of safe decisions lately.
Which isn’t great.
Ever since my actor training
days I’ve had a healthy aversion
to safe decisions.
Because...

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Safe decisions are very
rarely amazing decisions.
They’ll get you through
the day, but they won’t
blow any socks off.
Which poses an
interesting problem:

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In a world where every move
is analysed, every decision
mapped to a KPI:
How do you create an
environment where people
feel brave enough to blow
socks to smithereens?

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To make mistakes.
But not just
any mistakes,
good mistakes.

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How do you build
good failure into
your process?

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This is where two
concepts (that I’ve
stolen from other
disciplines and
smooshed together)
can provide the answer.

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The first:
Strong But Wrong.
In actor training when people are making
uninteresting choices, they’ll often be given
the note to go for something Strong But Wrong.
It basically means “Your safe choice isn’t working
so you might as well make a brave one,
even if it ends up being bad.”

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Take, for example, a scene where a guy
comes home from work, has a frosty
dinner with his wife then goes to bed.
You could play it that he’s tired, he’s had a long day, and he isn’t
finding his wife’s topic of conversation interesting. It’s not a bad
choice. It can be truthful, it’s just dull.
Alternatively you could play it that he’s had enough. Over the
course of the meal he considers quitting his job and leaving his
wife, but in playing it out in his head, realises that he wants to stay.
It’s the same lines, same scene, much braver choice.

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Nine times out of ten going for
Strong But Wrong leads to a better
choice. And the other one time
is both hilarious and freeing.
...which leads to a better choice.

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Now if you’re thinking “Great for the thesps,
how does this help me?” here’s where the
second concept comes into play.

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The second:
The Double Diamond

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You’re giving yourself no room to make any mistakes.
No room for bravery. No room for innovation.
Challenge Work Outcome
If you think the process of making
anything (a new product, a marketing
asset, a business decision) looks like this:

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Here’s what it should look like:
Any designers out there will probably be pretty familiar
with this already. It’s Design Council’s Double Diamond.
Challenge Outcome
D
eliver
D
evelop
Discover
D
efine

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Come up with
loads of ideas
Kill the bad
ones
Come up
with ideas for
developing the
good ones
Hone those
ideas into a
finished thing
Challenge Outcome
D
eliver
D
evelop
Discover
D
efine

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It’s a process of growing
and cutting back.
Flourishing and refining.

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It’s at this point where it doesn’t matter how terrible the idea
is. This is the point where someone can suggest the company
pivots to being a SaaS provider rather than a consultancy.
Where that ‘out there’ ad concept gets aired.
This is where Strong But Wrong can happen.
This bit is where
all the good
things happen.
Challenge Outcome
D
eliver
D
evelop
D
iscover
D
efine

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Once you’ve built a
process where it’s
okay to be wrong, you’ll
suddenly find a whole
lot more right moves
are being made.

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And not just right.
Unique.
Unexpected.
Brilliant.

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Like a gorilla playing
drums to advertise
chocolate.
Or pivoting from being
a podcasting app to
being Twitter.
Because bravery and
creativity lead to better
decision-making.

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Which can only happen
if there’s room to be
Strong But Wrong.

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Now the magic of this system is that
it can be scaled up or down depending
on what you’re working on:

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Working on a video?
Divide your day into chunks so you’ve got
some time dedicated to brave thinking.
It’s a video about robotic process
automation. Great.

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IN���T��E� S����R ��OM
SI����R ��OB���S? ��OT���G?
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RE��-��R�� GA���G? Deciding on a new vertical
to attack?
Allocate a set period of a few days for ‘out
there’ suggestions from the team.
Your company makes holographic labels
that help reduce counterfeit prescription
drugs being sold. Cool.

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Make bravery a part of
your process, and you
stop beating yourself
up for wasting time
on ideas that aren’t
going anywhere.

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And suddenly those
KPIs and analytics stop
being scary.
They become a superpower.
(Which they were always
supposed to be anyway)

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Because not only are better ideas
being generated, but you can prove
that they’re better ideas.
And if they’re not better ideas?It’s not
an issue. They were Strong But Wrong.
And you’ve got plenty more where
they came from.

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Ready to try it for
yourself?Cool.

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Go forth.
Be brave.
Make mistakes.
Have fun.
Report back.