The easy mantra of ‘fail fast’ is one of many (mis)translated from agile thought and practice. The positive case is easy to understand, especially in contrast with slower project management approaches which consume all their time and money before discovering they have built the wrong thing. But in failing fast, the cost and the impact of the failure need to be understood too. In many public services that cost can be very high and, even more importantly, may fall on those least able to meet it.
This post is a powerful description of an extreme case of that – but in describing the extreme, there is plenty to reflect on for a much wider range of services. Sometimes failure is really not an option.