As I checked my email not long before writing this blog post, the subject line of an email marketing piece caught my eye. Soon, I decided that my blog post should tie in with that subject. It would be a good follow up to my previous post, which was about how failure is not necessary and is too idealized.
So, what was the subject of the email that triggered my writing this blog post?
Right there in the subject line of that email, failure was being idealized once again. Incidentally, I don’t think I ever requested that email, but I hadn’t yet unsubscribed. Nonetheless, that email is just one more example of how there seems to be an endless stream of idealizing failure. And, this never ending stream of idealized failure continues even though failure should not be glorified and it should not be encouraged.
I must admit, however, that at least “The Power of Failure” email did start with an excellent quote by Winston Churchill. The quote was about success not being final, failure not being fatal, and the courage to continue being what counts. The quote contains very useful wisdom. But, that wisdom would be better imparted as “The Power of Persistence” or the “Power of Resilience”, for example. Qualities like persistence and resilience are valuable. Failure in itself is not, although what we learn from it might be. And, although some failure is inevitable, it’s not the only way to learn.
So, why is there so much emphasis upon glorifying failure instead of on areas like practice, learning, resilience, or even successful risk taking? All of these are far more valuable than the ever so idealized failure.
Resilience allows success to happen despite prior failure. Why not more emphasis on resilience?
Why not more emphasis on learning and practice? Practice makes perfect. Mistakes will occur during practice. Those mistakes are not failure. Those mistakes are how practice works. Ditto for learning. You may stumble as you learn. But, that is not failure. That is an element in the learning process.
Why isn’t there more emphasis upon taking the right risks—risks that have a reasonable chance of success? Learning how to take the right risks can prevent many failures. And, there are ways to take risks so as to make failure less likely. I’ve led interactive sessions on risk taking and I present on that very topic.
Yes, failure will occur at times. And, we need to be resilient and learn from it. But, as I’ve said before, failure is not always necessary. Still, as that “Power of Failure” email illustrates, we just can’t seem to get away from the never ending messages about the glory of failure.
