Feeling bad over that presentation you gave that wasn’t up to snuff? Last month’s sales that were in the tank? That star employee who got away—and let you know all the reasons why on the way out the door?
Ick! In its own way, each of these scenarios is a failure—and none of it feels small. Sure, it’s not like losing a million dollars or running a business into the ground. But the way we feel when we fail—and what we do after—can be the same in small fails as in massive ones.
From the time we’re kids, we’re taught not to fail, to avoid it at all costs, to be embarrassed by it. But it’s just not true! Acknowledging and learning from the times you fall short—well, that’s what ultimately leads to success. Think you’re always right? You’re almost surely headed for more failure.
So throw off your past conditioning and beliefs and look at 10 areas where failure leads to success, according to cbsnews.com:
- Change management
- Individual employee performance
- Turnarounds (Think Apple, HP, IBM)
- Managing people
- The scientific method
- Innovation
- Consulting
- Strategic planning
- Post mortems
- Relationships
In business, specifically, failure paves the way to success, says microsoft.com contributor Jeff Wuorio. Sure failure can wound, Wuorio says, whether you’re talking about big disasters or minor snafus. But you’ve got to get past that to get to the “gifts” failure brings: Unbelievable insight, opportunities to clearly see what went wrong (and right), and the ability to take a step back and see the bigger picture. And once you do that, you can start re-tooling your plan of attack for beginning again—more informed, with a better approach.
Experts say that business failure is “the best teacher you’ll ever have.” Why is that, exactly? Wuorio offers several excellent, thoughtful reasons you need to read (Just click the link above). In the meantime, here are the short versions:
- Failure is necessary.
- Failure reinforces the need to take risks.
- Success can breed complacency. (Failure shakes things up.)
- Failure means you’re not alone.
- Failure doesn’t automatically mean something went wrong.
- Failure can emphasize process, not just people.
- Failure expands your thinking.
Want to start failing your way to success? Take a page out of Scott Adams’ playbook—yep, he’s the guy who created the long-running and wildly successful ‘Dilbert’ cartoon strip. A big proponent of successive failures on the path to success, Adams says that if you’re taking reasonable steps for moving forward, your career, no matter what it is, can survive a fair number of “face plants” along the way to success. Adams certainly had his share, but he learned, acquired new (and complementary) skills and kept looking for new and better opportunities. Think about it. Adams points out that his failures in corporate life formed the basis for the ‘Dilbert’ comics. Click the link above to read his interview at usnews.com, and be sure to check out his book: How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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