For more than fifty years now in France, technological transfers between public research laboratories and the economy have been a central concern of the ministries in charge of Research and Industry. After the approaches based on a “technology push” during the 1970s, the organization of such transfers now involves recognizing the needs of companies, small and middle-sized in particular. In the middle of the first decade of the new century, the virtues of open innovation were being played up through the creation of “poles of competitiveness” and the Agency of Industrial Innovation (AII). Nowadays, efforts are being devoted to all aspects of innovation and to the follow-up with firms thanks to the new know-how developed in particular by the social and human sciences.
Past tenyears, literatureis an increasing numberof workstrying toidentify the differentleversto operateto encourageinnovationwithin companies.Incontinuationof this work focused onthe emergence of a"culture ofinnovation,"the state of theartmadein this articleallows us tobring about a feelingof "psychological safety" isthe only meansthat: - Membersof the organizationare notparalyzed byfear of failureand continueto offerbold initiatives, -Theseplayerslearn from themistakes thatwill inevitably becommitted during theinnovation processand are ableto no longerreproduce.We suggest, as such, somelines of thoughtto createaculture of "room for error"in organizations, starting withthe consolidation of thereward andsanction systemsby theinclinationof the direction to"Legends"failures.We stresshoweverthatthismay be possiblein the contextof American cultureis notnecessarily inthat ofFrench culture.