"Fail fast" is one of our favorite agile project management strategies.

Non-agile approaches tend to leave testing to the end of a project, only allowing us to learn from our mistakes once we have put significant time, effort, and resources into finishing a project. Agile approaches propose developing in iterations and gathering earlier, more frequent feedback so that we learn as we go, failing faster and in smaller ways.

Beyond iterations and more frequent feedback and testing, we can fail fast with our projects and teams by trying new things and encouraging our staff to test out new ideas. To be successful, we have to treat failure as a learning opportunity and shift away from blame and perfectionism.

We can fail fast in our strategic and program planning by rolling back plan elements that aren't working well. If our planning process stalls or an aspect of our strategy isn't successful, stop and pivot to something else. This type of plan resiliency can be baked into our plans by planning more frequently over shorter timelines and creating shorter-term objectives.

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