It has become extremely fashionable to claim that failure is a decisive element of success. This has turned quite extreme, with stories ‘from rags to riches’, almost like if utmost failure (personal and professional) was a pre-requisite of success. It is almost as if each successful person had to find a way to show that at some point in his or her life, he or she was at the point of utter emotional breakdown with less than 10 cents on their bank account!
I think this is too extreme, and like any fashionable statement, it is time to bring some measure in it.
Failure is indeed a way to get immediate feedback and an indisputable way to progress. So, it is reasonable to seek a healthy part of failure as part of the learning and trying process. True – if you don’t encounter failure, it’s probably because you don’t try hard enough. At the same time, utter and total failure needs to be avoided as well. It damages people personally, their families and it can extremely difficult to recover.
Failure and tough times create resilience. Yet resilience can also be obtained otherwise, by the force of character and repeated exercise. Take for example Michael Jordan. Yes, he failed many times. In small ways. But his drive was his own, and that’s how he became successful. And he did fail small, never big. Even when he went to a year playing baseball, a ‘big’ failure, it was not putting everything in jeopardy. He was able to come back successfully to basket-ball. He gained the experience, and kept being successful.
Yes, seek to extend your comfort zone and fail to learn, but make sure that your risk remains reasonable. Don’t embrace failure too tight!
