In talking to a client recently, they lamented that their organization is far too rigid and employees do not push the boundaries of their creativity. Risk-taking has been discouraged for some time across the board. So, instead of generating new and interesting ideas which may or may not be commercially valuable, employees are worried about coloring within the lines, so to speak.

In other words, they are busy trying to be right — trying to get all the answers correct on a test.

This reminded me of NBA champion player Joe Dumars, whose working credo has often been cited as “It’s not about being right, it’s about getting it right.”

Dumars should know a thing or two about getting it right with his resume of being a two-time NBA champion as a player and winning another championship as an executive. He was also named the NBA’s Executive of the Year in 2003.

Imagine a culture of getting it right — people can feel encouraged to take risks without fear of either punishment or indifference toward their efforts. This can unlock new ideas that would normally stay on the shelf collecting dust.

Vans is looking to get things right too. Listen to the recent buzz about the new VF CEO, Bracken Darrell, and what he intends to do to revive the brand. There is a deliberate push to get executives away from dull day-to-day tasks and focus on product innovation.

A big part of that is changing the culture of trying to be right. Darrell says in a WSJ article that “People running the brands started to feel like they had to ask permission to do everything,”

That’s no way of embracing risk-taking.

Let’s put things into perspective, I doubt anyone has suffered a fatal blow by trying a new way to grow a business and having it fall short of expectations.

There’s always an opportunity to go and get it right.