SmallBizResource Blog -- SmallBizResource

Failure Now An Option

Posted by Gayle Kesten Wednesday, Jan 23, 2008, 10:49 AM ET

Searching for the elusive secret to success? Then try screwing up a little.

First The Onion and now The New York Times are running stories about the merits of failure. Me, I know that firsthand. Like the time I absentmindedly placed one of those desktop magnetic sculptures on my laptop and fried the hard drive. I’ll never do that again. Or when I left my preschooler alone for two minutes with a pair of scissors nearby. It took three months for that patch of hair to grow back.

Seriously. I won’t say success is overrated. As entrepreneurs and small-business owners, we all have goals that drive us, and it feels great when we reach them. But you’re fooling yourself if you think you’re on a straight path.

According to Jeff Wuorio, quoted in today’s NYT, failure helps you evolve to a higher level of thinking. “And down the line, that can mean solutions and adjustments before any further problems even crop up,” he says.

Unfortunately, most people prefer not to reflect on their mistakes, according to a paper prepared for the Harvard Business School: “Most managers admire and are rewarded for decisiveness, efficiency and action rather than for deep reflection and painstaking analysis.”

Man, if I had a dime for every snap decision I saw made around the workplace (mine included). Sometimes they panned out well. Other times, not so much. The point is, we all need to embrace the lessons learned from those not-so-much occasions.

OK, I’ve jumped off my soapbox. Now go check out The Onion’s take on failure, then let me know your thoughts. Do you find it difficult to confront mistakes? What have they taught you?

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