“Embracing mistakes is the key to innovation and transformation."

 

That was the key message from visiting academic and behavioural scientist, Professor Ben Voyer from ESCP Business School in London, who gave a guest lecture to Unitec ākonga and kaimahi, educators and industry professionals on "The Psychology of Mistakes and Organisational Innovation” at the Red Lecture Theatre on Tuesday, 6 May 2025.

 

 

 

Widely recognised as a global expert in consumer psychology, behavioural science, and innovation, Prof. Voyer’s visit was organised by the School of Applied Business. 

 

Prof. Voyer’s lecture explored how mistakes shape the creative process in organisations—including schools—and how understanding human behaviour can lead to breakthrough innovation. 

 

“Our brain is geared to learn from our mistakes, we function by trial and error,” he explained.

 

Our students were particularly interested in Prof. Voyer’s views on how mistakes and failure can fuel success in business and entrepreneurship. Cognitive and emotional reactions to failure were a common theme in questions that were asked in the Q&A at the end of the lecture, facilitated by Lecturer Dr Suh-Young (Irene) Park, who had extended the invite to Prof. Voyer to speak at Unitec earlier this year.

 

Prior to his lecture, he gave a special presentation to Applied Business kaimahi on fostering stronger collaborations with companies and exploring collaborative opportunities with industry for meaningful and sustainable value creation. He shared practical insights from his extensive collaboration experience with internally companies such as Cartier and L'Oréal.

 

 

His advice focused on how smaller players in tertiary education can stand out in the market by being agile, niche offerings, building relationships and innovation. “What institutions offer has to be of tangible value for learners,” he said. “Identify a need and go niche where the other players are not going through niche offerings that are subtly different.”

 

He also shared strategies on how educators can embrace AI-based on the experiences and current systems at his own institution, which has a partnership with Open AI. 

 

“His advice was highly relevant to both Unitec and our school aim as we aim to strengthen partnerships with real-world business,” says Dr Park.

 

Prof. Voyer holds a PhD in Social Psychology from the London School of Economic, and a Doctor of Science (DSc) in Management from Sorbonne University. He has also studied marketing in HEC Paris and London Business School.

 

He is a frequent contributor and consultant to The Times, Sky News, CNBC, CNN, BBC, Washington Post and is recognised for his We All Make Mistakes podcast, which explores the role of failure in personal and professional growth. 

 

 

Find out more about Prof. Voyer: