Be honest with yourself Quote by John P. Kotter
“In terms of getting people to experiment more and take more risk, there are at least three things that immediately come to my mind. Number one, of course, is role-modeling it yourself. Number two is when people take intelligent, smart risks and yet it doesn't work out, not shooting them. And number three, being honest with yourself. If the culture you have is radically different from an experiment and take-risk culture, then you have a big change you going to have to make—and no little gimmicks are going to do it for you.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: Business Leadership Conference, 2021
Cultivating an experimental culture requires leaders to model risk, protect intelligent failures, and practice self‑honesty, demanding systemic change beyond superficial fixes.
In simple terms: Leaders must model risk, protect failures, and be honest to foster experimentation.
Key Takeaway
Model risk, protect smart failures, be honest.
Themes
leadership
culture change
risk taking
learning
innovation
Mood
determined
reflective
Type
strategic
inspirational
When to use this quote
- company meetings
- product development
- R&D labs
- startup pivots
Key Concepts
organizational behavior
change management
Questions to Reflect On
- What behaviors can you model today?
- How will you support a failed experiment?
A Different Perspective
Superficial incentives won’t shift deep‑seated risk‑averse mindsets.
