Learning to 'Fail Better': 5 Iterative Development Best Practices

The key to success in today's complex technology environments is not just "failing fast," but rather "learning how to fail better." This approach involves implementing a strategic process where iteration and experimentation contribute directly to meaningful business outcomes and excellent customer experiences. A successful example of this approach is the New Relic engineering team, which built and launched a major new feature in just three months by implementing five key best practices: making technology choices that promote a fast-paced development process, giving teams and product managers a shared understanding of priorities and success metrics, choosing a team structure that promotes trust and teamwork, employing a launch process that supports iteration and incremental delivery, and relying on critical visibility and instrumentation tools like New Relic. By adopting these best practices, organizations can use failure as a catalyst for achieving success consistently, sustainably, and in ways that matter to their business.