The Chance to Fail

Larry Blumenthal, the Director of Social Media Strategy for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has a new article in The Philanthropy News Digest called "A Helpful Guide to Failure in Philanthropy. Use Carefully." 

Blumenthal's insights are that foundations may be too cautious in trying to avoid failure (although it's clear that this describes a condition for service agencies, too).  Adhering to the status quo for fear of a possible failure means that ne never innovate, never grow.

See the article too for his four tips on how to fail successfully, and on a real-world failure that resulted in a second attempt that has since revolutionized palliative care.