Why the CHRO of IBM says she always asks new hires to talk about a time they’ve failed

People have a natural fear of showing weakness, especially during job interviews when they’re trying to present their best selves. That’s exactly why Nickle LaMoreaux, the CHRO of technology giant IBM, asks every candidate she speaks with the same question: “Can you talk about a time you failed?” 

LaMoreaux says she’s looking for people who can show resilience, especially now that AI has totally upended white-collar work as we know it, and employees are being forced to learn new skills to keep up with the times. In other words, can someone fail, pick themselves back up, learn from their mistakes, and quickly move on? It is a quality that LaMoreaux calls “learning agility,” or the ability to constantly pivot and build skills. It’s also what she calls the “single biggest critical success factor” in business today.

“We’re in an environment where you cannot predict what the next thing is,” she said on a panel at Tech Week 2025 in New York City earlier this month. “What if you spend two years learning something that doesn’t pan out, what are you going to do? What’s your personal resilience then, to pick yourself up and learn the next thing?”  

The HR leader says that the workforce of IBM as a whole is trying to not only discuss the idea of failure, but embrace it. CEO Arvind Krishna now holds monthly office hours that are broadcast to the company where he calls out AI trails that haven’t worked out. It’s an internal attempt to “normalize” failure, says LaMoreaux, because there will be plenty of trials and tribulations that come along with adopting the new technology. She adds that it’s just as important to note what doesn’t work as to highlight what does, so that others are less likely to make the mistake. 

While that kind of culture is endemic to startups, she says, it’s less common at established Fortune 500 companies. “For big organizations that have been around a long time, this idea of failing and celebrating it isn’t as easy,” she says. “It is a cultural shift for many organizations. People have a hard time with the word fail.

Brit Morse
brit.morse@fortune.com

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