Ray Zinn argues that effective leadership isn't about failing fast, but about learning from mistakes by acknowledging them quickly, fixing them early, and not repeating what already doesn't work.
I recently had the pleasure of hosting Ray Zinn on the My Favorite Mistake podcast. Ray is the longtime former CEO of Micrel Semiconductor, where he led the company for 37 years, keeping it profitable for 36 of them. He's also credited with inventing the wafer stepper, a foundational technology in semiconductor manufacturing.
Ray has strong–and refreshingly practical–views about mistakes, learning, and leadership behavior. What struck me most wasn't a single dramatic failure story, but his insistence that the real mistake isn't failing once — it's repeating the same mistake without fixing it.
That framing alone challenges a lot of modern management slogans.
Watch the Episode or Highlights
The Real Problem Isn't Making Mistakes
Ray is very clear about this:
“The problem is not making a mistake. The problem is correcting it.”
That's a subtle but important distinction. In many organizations, leaders say they want learning, but their systems, reactions, and incentives quietly punish people for acknowledging mistakes. The result? Problems get hidden, rationalized, or explained away instead of fixed.
Ray argues that learning requires more than tolerance–it requires action. If a mistake is corrected quickly and effectively, he doesn't even consider it a mistake anymore:
“If you fix a mistake, then it's not a mistake in my mind.”
That's a very Lean way of thinking, even if Ray doesn't wrap it in Lean terminology.
The “Fail Fast, Fail Often” Problem
At one point in our conversation, I asked Ray what he thought about the popular Silicon Valley mantra “fail fast, fail often.” His reaction was immediate and blunt:
“That's ridiculous.”
Why?
Because repeating failure without learning isn't experimentation–it's inertia. Ray connects this directly to ego:
“Fail early and fail often sounds like you're repeating the mistake.
Egos get in our way. Egos keep us from improving.”
In Lean terms, this is the difference between PDSA and trial-and-error theater. Learning requires reflection, adjustment, and discipline. Failure without learning is just waste.
Ray summed it up this way:
“If you fail — and you will fail — learn from it. Fix it. And don't repeat it.”
That's not anti-experimentation. It's anti-sloppiness.
Mistakes Are Like Glue
One of Ray's most memorable metaphors is his “glue” analogy, which instantly resonated with me:
“A mistake is like glue.
If you remove it early before it sets, it's easy to clean up.
But if you let it harden, it's a bummer to get off.”
This is exactly what we see in organizations that delay addressing problems. Small issues harden into cultural norms. Technical debt piles up. Workarounds become “the way we do things.”
Early correction isn't about blame–it's about preventing damage.
Why People Don't Admit Mistakes
Ray also explains why mistakes so often go unaddressed:
“The biggest problem with mistakes is just not acknowledging them.
Very few people will admit they make a mistake.”
Why? Because admitting a mistake means you now have to do something about it.
This is where leadership behavior matters most. Ray contrasts leaders who administer people with those who minister to them. When leaders react with judgment, fear, or ego, people stay silent. When leaders respond with respect and help, people speak up. That's psychological safety in practice–not as a slogan, but as a direct result of how leaders respond when something goes wrong.
“If your employees come and say, ‘I need your help,' you're on the right track.”
That moment–when people feel safe enough to ask for help–is a strong signal of psychological safety and a prerequisite for real learning.
Learning Requires More Than Good Intentions
Ray's perspective aligns strongly with Lean principles I've written about for years:
- Learning beats blame
- Early problem-solving beats delayed explanations
- Systems matter more than slogans
- Leadership behavior shapes culture
What Ray brings is decades of real-world CEO experience–and a willingness to call out ideas that sound modern but don't actually help people improve.
If you want a thoughtful, no-nonsense conversation about mistakes, learning, leadership, and why some popular management clichés deserve rethinking, I encourage you to listen to the full episode.
- Listen to the episode of My Favorite Mistake featuring Ray Zinn
- Watch clips and highlights on YouTube
- Learn more about Ray's book The Essential Leader
As Ray reminds us, mistakes are inevitable. Repeating them is optional.
Turning Mistakes into a System for Learning
What struck me most in my conversation with Ray Zinn is how closely his lived experience aligns with a core idea I explore in my book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation.
Ray's message is not “mistakes are good.” His message is far more disciplined–and more powerful: mistakes are inevitable, but repeating them is optional. Learning requires fast acknowledgment, honest reflection, and real correction. Without those elements, slogans like “fail fast” become excuses, not pathways to improvement.
In The Mistakes That Make Us, I argue that organizations don't learn by accident. Leaders shape learning through how they react when something goes wrong–whether they respond with curiosity or blame, support or silence. Ray's glue metaphor captures this perfectly: the longer leaders wait to address mistakes, the harder they become to remove, and the more damage they cause.
Ray's decades as a CEO reinforce a simple but uncomfortable truth: culture is revealed most clearly in moments of failure. Leaders who want innovation, engagement, and continuous improvement must design systems–and model behaviors–that make learning from mistakes possible, expected, and safe.
Ray's story is a powerful reminder that learning isn't about celebrating failure. It's about fixing problems, respecting people, and not repeating what we already know doesn't work.
And Ray's experience reinforces a core truth: psychological safety isn't about being nice–it's about making learning possible when mistakes happen.
If this conversation resonated with you, my hope is that it also nudges you to reflect on how mistakes are handled in your own organization–and how leadership behavior can turn those moments into fuel for learning and innovation, rather than fear and repetition.
FAQ: Learning from Mistakes, Leadership, and “Fail Fast”
What does Ray Zinn say about “fail fast, fail often”?
Ray Zinn argues that “fail fast, fail often” is misleading because failure without learning simply repeats mistakes; real learning requires fixing problems and not repeating them.
What is Ray Zinn's definition of a real mistake?
According to Ray Zinn, a mistake isn't failing once–it's failing to correct the problem and then repeating the same mistake.
Why do people hide mistakes at work, and what does psychological safety have to do with it?
People hide mistakes when they fear blame, punishment, or embarrassment; Ray Zinn explains that without psychological safety–created by respectful, supportive leadership–mistakes stay hidden instead of becoming opportunities for learning.
What does the “mistakes are like glue” metaphor mean?
Ray compares mistakes to glue: if you address them early, they're easy to fix, but if you wait too long, they harden and become much harder–and more costly–to remove.
How can leaders encourage learning from mistakes?
Leaders encourage learning by responding with respect instead of blame, fixing problems quickly, and creating an environment where employees feel safe asking for help.
How does this connect to Lean thinking?
Ray's views align with Lean principles: learning beats blame, early problem-solving prevents waste, and leadership behavior shapes whether improvement actually happens.
What is psychological safety in the context of learning from mistakes?
Psychological safety means people feel safe speaking up about problems, asking for help, and admitting mistakes without fear of punishment, which Ray Zinn argues is essential for fixing problems early and preventing repeated failures.
If you’re working to build a culture where people feel safe to speak up, solve problems, and improve every day, I’d be glad to help. Let’s talk about how to strengthen Psychological Safety and Continuous Improvement in your organization.
I love how this post talks about why “fail fast, fail often” can be misleading. The blog states that the statement means nothing unless you are learning from your mistakes. You have to learn from each mistake and change your process, so you do not repeat them. Every project will have mistakes; it is important to own up to them and take accountability. This will help you fully understand how and why the problem occurred and how you can fix it. I can apply this in my green belt practicum by not being afraid of failure and doing my best to improve my process, so it won’t happen again.