Learning in Public: The Paradox of Organisational Growth

In our work supporting teams and organisations to become learning-driven, one paradox keeps surfacing: everyone claims to value learning but no one wants to be seen making a mistake.

Individually, we’re taught that failure is needed for growth. But organisationally, that lesson is far harder to embody. Leaders are expected to be adaptive, responsive, and community-led. Yet when an organisation falters, especially publicly, or on sensitive issues, the consequences can be swift: reputational damage, broken trust, or loss of funding.

The result? A performance of perfection. Teams act as though they’re hitting the mark, rather than demonstrating what it means to try, to miss, and to learn.

Unlike individuals, organisations do much of their learning in public. And yes, those with power, money, or influence must be held accountable. But there’s a line between accountability and censure—between constructive challenge and a culture that punishes visible missteps. If every error is met with silence, scrutiny, or shame, only those who hide their learning will survive.

This dynamic is particularly stark between organisations and funders. When a funder makes a mistake—delivers unclear expectations, shifts strategy midstream, or underestimates what it takes to build trust—the organisations they support often absorb the consequences quietly. The power imbalance makes it hard to speak about the harm done, let alone invite accountability. Meanwhile, funders rarely name their own missteps to their peers, often out of fear that doing so will diminish their standing within the ecosystem. In this way, learning remains asymmetrical and the system remains inequitable.

And yet, in this same ecosystem, we look for “best practices.” But best practice emerges from trial and error, from reflection, and from the cumulative outcome of people and organisations willing to share that they got it wrong before they get it right. If we prize best practice but punish the process that produces it, we leave no room for discovery and instead focu—only performance.

Radical organisational learning asks for something more honest. It asks leaders to admit what isn’t working. It asks funders and peers to understand that learning often requires visible imperfection. It asks communities to speak truth, but also to recognise when change is actually trying to happen.

Organisations are told to be adaptive, brave, and community-led. But when they misstep or don’t hit the mark, especially in public or on sensitive issues, the cost can be swift reputational loss, strained partnerships, or reduced funding. Mistakes are supposed to be part of learning but only, it seems, if they’re tidy, private, and harmless.

This creates a dangerous performance: everyone is acting as though they are hitting the mark instead of showing what it means to work towards their goals.

At Quotidian Strategies, we believe in brave learning cultures. That means building conditions where it’s safe to say - we tried, we got it wrong, and this is what we are going to do to demonstrate we’ve learned. Because without the safety to err, there’s no space to learn. And without learning, no organisation can truly serve.