Types of Failure: Leadership, Systems, and Value Cracks
In this bold and open panel discussion, the speakers explore how ambition, growth, and the desire to “do good” can often mask underlying vulnerabilities. Moderator Sourav Mukherji sets the stage by noting that growth creates new fault lines where failure can take root, particularly when driven by unchecked ambition. The panelists reflect on how failure is not always dramatic – it often lies hidden in our unchecked assumptions, misaligned goals, or blind adherence to process over purpose.
Harish Hande challenges the illusion of success in social innovation, especially when working with marginalized communities. He calls out the performative checklists of project design and urges organizations to reflect deeply on whether they are truly improving lives. Gayatri Vasudevan recounts her early years with a multimillion-dollar project that failed despite its promise on paper, reminding us that models are secondary to vision, execution, and leadership humility. She insists that vocational training in India is unfairly stigmatized, and change takes time, grit, and diverse skill sets.
Gauri Singh emphasizes that policy failure is almost always people’s failure. Bureaucratic systems, she says, crumble when teams are too aligned in thinking and not diverse enough in approach. Feedback loops are flawed, often skewed by bias, making it hard to recalibrate implementation effectively. Vijay Mahajan closes with humor and philosophy, suggesting that failure of values and character overrides all other forms and that both peak success and rock-bottom failure reveal who we really are. This panel encourages us to recognize not just external but internal breakdowns – failures of leadership, culture, and authenticity.
