Is Failure a Blessing in Disguise?

Failure in business and life is not spoken about very much. In fact, successes usually call for celebration, failures are frowned upon, and their discussion is normally avoided. Ironically, the truth is that none of us would succeed at an endeavor if we didn’t risk failure.

For without taking that risk, that chance, how would we achieve any success? We can truthfully say, then, that success is predicated on failure, i.e., that failure is a necessary condition for success to occur. Pure and simple.

What child has ever learned to ride a bike without ever falling down? Their scuffed knees tell the story of their success - and today, they can ride like a champ! The two seemingly opposite ideas of success and failure are, therefore, intimately interwoven in the story of our efforts and our achievements.

In other words, failure is a good thing. We can learn from it; it teaches us what we did wrong; and it points to the corrections that will transform the failed effort into success. Failure should be celebrated, not bemoaned. Failing shows that we’re actively making an effort and taking chances.

A life bereft of failures indicates that its principal actor is stuck in a rut, repeating ad infinitum only the efforts he knows for sure will produce desirable results. He gives in to his fear of failure, and is doomed to use up a whole life without learning how to overcome the hurdles on the way to success. And without the joy of new achievements.

Distressed and humiliated, he finally sees that everyone is cheering and applauding him for risking failure and his facial expression changes radically to one of self-pride - as if he had, in fact, succeeded.

Years later, this scene still stands out in my mind - I believe I’ll never forget it. I’m glad I took my youngest child to see the film, and hope it impressed her similarly. The big saying in the movie was “Keep Moving Forward.” In other words, don’t dwell on past mistakes: overcome the sting of defeat, pick yourself up, and keep moving forward.

To grasp this precious philosophy alone, I encourage you to rent “Meet the Robinsons,” have your children watch it with you, and watch them as they take in one of the greatest lessons you have to offer them.

So what can we learn from other people’s failures, from our own, and from failure itself? Did you know that J.K Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series that sold 400 million copies of books, and who is worth over a billion dollars today, had hit rock bottom before her first Harry Potter book was published? At one time, she was a jobless single parent, teetering on the edge of homelessness.

She found the strength to use her failure was a springboard to success. She said, in a commencement speech to a graduating class, “The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity.”

Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketball players to ever play the game, was once cut from his high school basketball team. He later went on to lead the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships. In a commercial for Nike, Jordan says “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. And I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot 26 times… and missed! I’ve failed over and over again in my life - and that is why I succeed.”

Henry Ford went bankrupt multiple times before he got Ford Motor off the ground. Ford stated, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” Yes, he applied his smarts to examining the reasons why he failed so much, and derive the lessons that would eventually lead him to great success.

In this process, he sought one thing only: learning to succeed. He did not berate himself and sink into pessimism and depression, as so many of us are likely to have done. Rather, refusing to stay mired in that losing feeling, he rationally evaluated what elements of his business to throw out, which to keep, and which to modify.

Training yourself to persevere and continue to work on your ultimate success once you have experienced failure allows your mind to expand, become innovative, and brainstorm new, more effective solutions. In this way, you’re programming your subconscious mind to always search for a successful outcome, and not succumb to failure. In fact, science shows us that when people overcome failures and seek workable solutions, the neurons in their brains experience visible growth. And that’s because these folks refused to stay mired in self-deprecation and other punishing behaviors.

So, remember to celebrate your failures, knowing that success is not possible without them.

And… Keep Moving Forward!