Work becomes very difficult if you end up failing.
Most people I have worked with are terrified of failure.
Not afraid. Not worried. But, absolutely terrified.
Yet failure is a critical part of life.
I remember reading (I cannot find the exact story now) of a corporation board of directors that were cautious about hiring a CEO candidate if had never had a significant failure. The board felt that a major failure was good character shaping and would help in the future.
Here is the problem: when learning new skills or trying new adventures, failure is guaranteed.
Yet, failure in a business is considered fatal to the career of the person who failed.
This guarantees that (almost) everyone will play it safe so they don’t lose their job.
Management needs to encourage failure.
The business suffers because new activities, processes, or products are not tried.
Jeff Bezos has a method of handling new products or ideas: Can the new venture be reversed easily and with little cost? If true, go ahead with minimal investigation. If false, then much more in-depth investigation must occur and significant time deciding whether to go ahead or not. A great plan!
The most successful people have had tremendous failures.
From when we tried to walk as a baby and kept falling down to where we are now, failure is a way of life.
In fact, I can see failure as frequent as successes.
I have learned much more from my failures than from my successes.
When we fail, we are forced to reassess the situation and make significant changes.
I am sure you are tired of hearing the statement by Thomas Edison about his failure “I found 10,000 ways that didn’t work”.
Failure is like weight lifting – the more times you fail, the easier it gets to accept failure because it makes you stronger. Some eventually may even look forward to it.
Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx, became a billionaire building up her company.
While growing up, her father would ask her “what did you fail at today?” (see article). He taught her the importance of trying for the impossible and failing big.
I don’t want to sugar coat one of the results of failure: it hurts, real bad.
Through the pain is where we grow. But, there is pain!
Similar to surgery…removing an infected appendix is good for you but there is the pain of surgery you have to go through first.
Focused Failure
This does not mean you should go out and fail at anything. Far from it.
It means you should analyze the direction of your life and decide if you want to go attempt the task or activity. Taking calculated risks is required – not just any random risk.
Go ahead and fail!