{"id":12112,"date":"2013-05-16T09:23:42","date_gmt":"2013-05-16T16:23:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=12112"},"modified":"2013-04-30T13:51:12","modified_gmt":"2013-04-30T20:51:12","slug":"think-failure-to-succeed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=12112","title":{"rendered":"Think Failure to Succeed"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Most success springs from an obstacle or failure. I became a cartoonist largely because I failed in my goal of becoming a successful executive.<\/em>” Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert<\/p>\n

\u201cSuccess consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.\u201d<\/em> Winston Churchill<\/p>\n

“Notice the difference between what happens when a man says to himself, ‘I have failed three times,’ and what happens when he says, ‘I’m a failure.\u2019<\/em> ”\u00a0 Samuel I. Hayakawa<\/p>\n

It bugs me when someone shouts \u201cFailure is not an option!\u201d\u00a0 The icing on the buggy cake comes if their declaration is punctuated with teeth-grinding and fist-clenching.<\/p>\n

Sure, I hear their determination and desire that they must succeed, no matter what, come hell or high-water, or no water at all, if that\u2019s the case.\u00a0 Still, it bugs me. \u00a0It seems out of touch with reality and, in my experience coaching people as they increase their level of success, not the best way to actually succeed.<\/p>\n

Ken Peter, in his blog \u201cFailure Is an Option,\u201d captured my sentiments when he wrote:\u00a0 Preparing for the possibility of failure isn\u2019t a sign of weakness \u2013 it\u2019s the sign of a professional.<\/p>\n

\"\"Failure isn\u2019t the opposite of success. It\u2019s part of it. People up to ground-breaking, out-of-the-ordinary outcomes must be comfortable with failure. It could be said that they have to pursue it.<\/p>\n

Michael Phelps\u2019 coach tells how he would intentionally crack Phelps\u2019s goggles so Michael would learn to swim that way if it ever happened in a race. In the 2008 Olympics, Michael\u2019s goggles failed and filled up with water, severely impairing his vision.\u00a0 He was reduced to counting strokes rather than seeing his opponents. He won gold.<\/p>\n

Rafael Nadal\u2019s coach made him practice with under-inflated tennis balls and poorly-strung rackets so whatever circumstances occurred in a match, Rafa would have the mindset and skill set to adjust.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The parachute designed to slow down the descent of Curiosity, the Mars rover, ripped to shreds during some of the wind tunnel trials. \u00a0The scientists didn\u2019t know what the problem was. They did know that if the parachute didn\u2019t work flawlessly, the entire mission would fail. Because failure was not an option, and hope was not a strategy, they conducted experiment after experiment and added more cameras<\/a> to see the failure in greater detail. When it failed, they were ecstatic. The additional visual data let them see what to fix. Curiosity is on Mars today.<\/p>\n

There are no shortages of failures in business (Facebook\u2019s IPO, Enron, Netflix split into Qwikster), in state and federal governments, in social, religious institutions, public and private. Failure doesn\u2019t stop progress. Stopping stops progress. Mary Pickford, actress of the silver screen, is credited with saying: \u201cSupposing you have tried and failed again and again, you may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call \u201cfailure\u201d is not the falling down, but the staying down.\u201d <\/b><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what you can do to deal with the possibility of failure as a business owner. Ask these questions at the launch of your project and throughout its lifecycle. These questions are helpful only when you ask them from a commitment to speak and hear the truth and not killing the messenger. Caution: If you feel yourself turning into Pollyanna or Debbie Downer, snap out of it. Neither are helpful.<\/p>\n

Ask:<\/p>\n