Sometimes it’s hard to remember that successful innovation most often derives from a series of failures. I found this interview with chef David Chang, of Momofuku restaurants in NYC, to be a welcomed reminder.
His notoriety has spurred from his collection of highly successful Momofuku restaurants (Ko, Ssam, Noodle Bar, & Milk Bar) in NYC, as well as his recently published cookbook. Though many have labeled him as the most innovative chef in NYC, Chang is the first to admit that he is NOT the most talented of his NYC counterparts. He attributes his restaurant’s success to his team’s ruthless passion and openness to making big mistakes. Chang’s style epitomizes the mentality that success requires thinking big and, more importantly, putting yourself out there.
In the words of marketing guru and entrepreneur, Seth Godin:
Genius is actually the eventual public recognition of dozens (or hundreds) of failed attempts at solving a problem. Sometimes we fail in public, often we fail in private, but people who are doing creative work are constantly failing.
I hear a lot of entrepreneurs talk about failure as a right-of-passage. As if you can’t be successful or launch a successful company until you’ve failed at least once. I think this is the wrong interpretation. Instead, failure (big or small) must be an ingrained part of the innovation and creative process. Not just something you do once and then get out of your system. Mistakes provide opportunities to change direction towards something better.
As Chang says, his team’s strategy is “throwing whatever will stick on the wall . . . from there, its a progression of accidents to where we get.”
I like this guy.
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Not Only is Failure an Option, It’s Mandatory
Sometimes it’s hard to remember that successful innovation most often derives from a series of failures. I found this interview with chef David Chang, of Momofuku restaurants in NYC, to be a welcomed reminder.
His notoriety has spurred from his collection of highly successful Momofuku restaurants (Ko, Ssam, Noodle Bar, & Milk Bar) in NYC, as well as his recently published cookbook. Though many have labeled him as the most innovative chef in NYC, Chang is the first to admit that he is NOT the most talented of his NYC counterparts. He attributes his restaurant’s success to his team’s ruthless passion and openness to making big mistakes. Chang’s style epitomizes the mentality that success requires thinking big and, more importantly, putting yourself out there.
In the words of marketing guru and entrepreneur, Seth Godin:
I hear a lot of entrepreneurs talk about failure as a right-of-passage. As if you can’t be successful or launch a successful company until you’ve failed at least once. I think this is the wrong interpretation. Instead, failure (big or small) must be an ingrained part of the innovation and creative process. Not just something you do once and then get out of your system. Mistakes provide opportunities to change direction towards something better.
As Chang says, his team’s strategy is “throwing whatever will stick on the wall . . . from there, its a progression of accidents to where we get.”
I like this guy.
If you liked this post, please pass it along and share it via facebook, twitter, or google buzz!