Believe it or not, failure is an essential aspect of learning – whether you’re learning to ride a bike, developing a new technology, building a business, or simply learning a new subject in school. The goal is not to fail intentionally or to fail because you didn’t do your best, but rather to understand that when you try something new, failures are likely to occur. Every failure contains a lesson – this is what makes failures so valuable. The key is to learn the correct lessons from each failure and to adapt accordingly.
Unfortunately, fear of failure stops many people from even trying. The pain, frustration, cost, and embarrassment of their own past failures or mistakes teaches them that failure hurts – so they avoid failure (I struggle with this myself). The irony is that while failure can sometimes be difficult, being willing to fail and learn from it is what it takes to achieve great things. However, embracing failure does not mean taking dangerous risks and making huge “blind leaps”.
The secret is to learn how to take calculated risks toward your objectives. It’s important to guide your choices with some level of information and analysis. The trick is to know when to act since you’ll never have perfect and complete information. Then act (practice, experiment) in some small way and learn from what worked and what did not work. By constantly taking steps and keeping the risks relatively small, you’ll always be learning, growing, improving, winning. It’s certainly not easy, but it works.
James Dyson is a well known inventor and entrepreneur who embraces failure and emphasizes it’s important role in success. I recommend reading this article and listening to this interview with Mr. Dyson.
[Note: I originally wrote this as a life lesson for my son on April 15, 2016.]