Museum of Failure: How Could These Creations Avoid Curation?
The ABCs: Academic Bases Covered
Before the fun and fascinating activities start, see how they align to key information literacy skills from ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries), program learning outcomes, and essential employability skills as defined by the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities (MTCU). These bundle into the goals for the activities below.
Information Thresholds
- Searching as strategic exploration
- Research as inquiry
Associated Standards
Business Standard 4: Apply basic research skills to support business decision making
Essential Employability Skills
- Communicate clearly, concisely and correctly in the written, spoken, and visual form that fulfills the purpose and meets the needs of the audience.
- Locate, select, organize, and document information using appropriate technology and information systems.
- Analyze, evaluate, and apply relevant information from a variety of sources.
Goals
Learners will develop and demonstrate skills to:
- use various research methods, based on need, circumstance, and type of inquiry;
- monitor gathered information and assess for gaps or weaknesses;
- organize information in meaningful ways;
- synthesize ideas gathered from multiple sources;
- draw reasonable conclusions based on the analysis and interpretation of information.
Check In Before You Dive In
Make sure you have a firm grasp of the information, tips, and tricks communicated through The Learning Portal’s Research Hub before tackling this assignment.
After that, make sure you have the tools to be a savvier searcher. Match the tips and tricks for use in your favourite search engine with how they can assist.
Assignment Details
Synopsis
Combine imagination, research skills, and persuasive writing as you explore Sweden’s Museum of Failure and make a case for how you might have saved a curated disaster from its fate.
Setting the Scene
Re-opening in 2018, is Sweden’s Museum of Failure. This quirky collection claims:
- the majority of all innovation projects fail and the museum showcases these failures to provide visitors a fascinating learning experience;
- the collection consists of a wide variety of failed products and services from around the world.
- every item provides unique insight into the risky business of innovation.
Ideally, failures are stopped before they go to market, but then we wouldn’t have the Museum of Failures!
The above are extreme examples, however, risk-taking and some inevitable failure stemming from those risks have grown to be acceptable practices in the business and tech worlds. Take a few moments to explore the importance of failure in innovation. Situating yourself in this head space will assist with your assignment.
Edmondson, A. C. (2011, April). Strategies for learning from failure. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2011/04/strategies-for-learning-from-failure
Your Tasks
- After you have read the article above, explore the items curated in the Museum of Failure’s collection. Use resources at the bottom of this page and | or your own research skills.
- Choose one failed innovation to investigate more deeply. Your investigation might include these areas: the failed innovation, the company, and other trends of the era.
- Using information gathered from your investigations, posit recommendations that could have kept the innovation viable. What could the company have done to keep it from becoming a curation in the Museum of Failure? Areas to consider include product improvements; marketing; price; timing; etc.
- Communicate your recommendations in a 750-1000 word or 5-7 minute video report using academic rules e.g., citing sources. Submit your report to your instructor using her | his preference.r
Research Boost
With research, it is important to understand the opposing viewpoint(s) to ensure a sound argument for your position. CBC’s The Under the Influence covers the marketing of fads. Listen to the podcast to learn how products that should have floundered or failed actually flourished. How marketers turned potential failures into huge fads might provide you tips to turnaround your own chosen failure’s fate.
If you do not see the embedded podcast below, access it at https://www.cbc.ca/listen/shows/under-the-influence/episode/15396858 It showcases what could have easily been curations in the Museum of Failure.
Resource Round-up
These resources will assist your choice of failed innovation.
For resources to research the products themselves, make sure to verify the credibility of your sources!
NBC Left Field. (2017, June 14). Inside the museum of failure. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/220999602
Not a fan of museums? Here is another list of failed products that you may choose to consult for your investigation:
CBInsights. (2017, April 17). Research bites: When corporate innovation goes bad – the 11- biggest product failures of all time. Retrieved from https://www.cbinsights.com/research/corporate-innovation-product-fails/
