Samuel West

Samuel West is the founder and curator of the Museum of Failure, which he started in Sweden in 2017. The collection of more than 100 failed products and services has since been shown in Los Angeles, Toronto and Shanghai, with smaller exhibitions in cities such as Vienna, Amsterdam, London, Milan, Seoul and Paris. The museum operates through the MOX Institute, which offers pop-up exhibitions and services for organisations.

West is a licensed psychologist with a background in clinical and organisational psychology. He earned his PhD in psychology at Lund University in 2015 with a thesis on organisational play as a driver of creativity and has published research on play, productivity and improvisation in teams. That research led him to conclude that fear of failure holds back innovation even in progressive companies, the idea behind the museum.

For more than a decade he has advised organisations on creativity and innovation.