At the Women in Retail Leadership Summit in Miami this spring, Marisa Thalberg, chief marketing officer, Catalyst Brands, shared a powerful leadership lesson: Great teams aren’t built by making everyone think alike. They’re built by creating an environment where people feel safe enough to take risks, challenge conventional thinking, and occasionally get it wrong.

Give People Permission to Fail

Thalberg encouraged leaders to give their teams permission to take risks and learn from failure. “Can you give people the permission to climb up and perform knowing they might fall?” she asked during her TED Talk-style session.

Everyone is going to fall at times. The important thing is creating an environment where people can get back up, learn and try again, advised Thalberg.

Make Room for the Outlier

Thalberg also used the image of a colorful tropical fish swimming against a school of fish to illustrate the importance of individuality. “What if you are this tropical fish?” she asked. “I’ve been that fish, and it’s really hard.”

However, the person swimming against the current may be exactly who an organization needs — the employee willing to question conventional wisdom, challenge an assumption, or see an opportunity others have missed, added Thalberg.

How can leaders encourage this kind of behavior? Thalberg recommended asking questions such as, “What are we missing? Who sees this differently? What would you do if we weren’t constrained by the way we’ve always done things?”

Dare to Be the Tropical Fish

Thalberg’s message ultimately comes down to a simple challenge: “Dare to be tropical fish. Dare to invite your teams to be the tropical fish.” When leaders create space for difference, healthy disagreement and calculated risk, they give people the freedom to bring their best ideas forward.

As Thalberg put it, “It is the way beautiful, colorful things will happen, not just in the work, but in our business.”