The failure advantage: how failing sets us up for success

Failing forward is about learning from the experience, says Gemma Leigh Roberts. Not all failures lead to future success but there is always something you can learn when things don’t go to plan

Jeff Bezos is ranked first on Forbes’ list of the wealthiest people in the world and has turned Amazon from an online bookseller in 1994 to an e-commerce giant today. However, in his early years of business, Bezos had almost a billion dollars in failures. Instead of letting these deter him and his vision, he took lessons from them to change course. Many of his words and actions make it clear that this is due to the value he places on continual learning and using mistakes to gain knowledge, adapt and grow.

Part of any kind of growth entails barriers being pushed and an entry into uncharted territory. As you take on novel challenges, attempt to find new solutions, or focus on broadening your understanding, you won’t always be successful in achieving what you set out to do right away, in fact you may feel like you’ve failed, which can be uncomfortable to experience.

Mistakes, failure, and challenges can be used to your advantage if you can shift your perspective to view these events as part of the process of reaching an effective and positive solution. This can feel easier if you focus on the rewards you’ll achieve when you find a viable solution – which could include broadening your knowledge, developing skills, advancing your professional or personal development. At times, expanding your knowledge and overcoming challenges will be smooth sailing, whereas at other times there may be bumps in the road. The key is to prepare yourself for potential challenges and accept that you may at times fail as you start to explore new ideas, practise newly acquired skills and understand it’s a normal part of the development process if all your decisions don’t pay off.

Celebrating failure

In fact, it can be a positive approach to start celebrating failure, which is a common practice at pharmaceutical giant Lilly. Renowned for the focus on innovation where medicines are developed and approved at speed compared to competitors, the culture at Lilly has one component that isn’t replicated by other pharmaceutical companies. The senior leadership teams embrace failure as an inevitable part of the innovation process and scientists are actively encouraged to take risks. When scientists find a drug they’re developing doesn’t work out, rather than give up, they’re encouraged to find other uses for it. In the 1990s, Lilly’s chief scientific officer, W Leigh Thompson, initiated failure parties whereby the scientific process rather than the outcome was celebrated and applauded.

In the workplace today and in the future, learning to fail is critical. Although the Facebook culture of ‘move fast and break things’ – whereby the speed at which new products can be created is negatively weighted against governance – may be outdated, in part because shareholders and customers are taking an interest in social impact, we still need to learn how to navigate the murky and sometimes ugly territory of publicly learning about what works as our environments change. That may require individuals to find a way to fail, make mistakes and struggle with complexities of new challenges without feeling overwhelmed or embarrassed, which can be supported by focusing on the process, rather than the outcome, and treating new endeavours like experiments – where there is no answer – but various approaches can be tested, and outcomes reviewed against goals.

What we need to do is learn to harness failure and use it to our advantage instead of letting it hold us back. Central to this is reducing the stigma of failing, and instead focusing on the end goal. People are often scared of things not working out due to subsequent feelings of shame, embarrassment, and guilt, so avoid taking risks or trying a different approach. In order to really accept and celebrate failure, you need to develop cognitive flexibility – reframing difficult situations, thoughts and emotions to view them as a rich part of life and work.

Those who use failure to fuel success understand that both opportunities and obstacles will present themselves, and that’s normal; failing at something doesn’t have to be a negative experience, it can just be a sign that there’s a need to move in a different direction, try something new, or keep practising a skill. When you realise that most successes are built on the experience of many failures, you can begin to see them as not failures at all, but an essential part of the process and crucial to being able to grow and develop in your career.

The good news is you can turn mistakes, failure and challenges to your advantage. It’s all about adjusting your perspective to see events that don’t go to plan as part of the process of learning and developing. The key is to prepare yourself for potential challenges and accept that you may fail as you start to put new ideas and skills into practice. You also need to understand that making decisions that don’t always pay off is just a normal part of the process. In fact, rather than just accepting mistakes may occur, if you can learn to celebrate failure, you’ll create a way of thinking that helps you to thrive.

Here are three ways you can turn mistakes and failure into learning experiences:

1Create a failure wall

Document all your efforts that haven’t been fruitful or created the results you wanted. Maybe your project budget was pulled, an interview didn’t go as planned, you didn’t get the promotion, a presentation didn’t go well, or you didn’t receive funding. These are painful experiences potentially but looking at the work you’ve put in will help you to appreciate your effort. A failure in one area may turn out to be a success in another project in the future. Also, documenting how many failures it takes to create success will help you to view mistakes and challenges as part of the process of creating successful outcomes.

2Change the ‘win–lose’ language

We often look at events in life as binary – we win, or we lose, and these are opposite ends of the scale. But this isn’t always reflective of reality. What about if you win a project but lose a relationship in the process? What if you lose out in a client pitch, but you learned so much that will help you with your next pitch? Rather than focusing on winning or success as an outcome, shift your thinking to celebrate the process of getting to where you are, celebrate the effort, energy, motivation, creativity and resourcefulness you demonstrated. If you can learn to value the process rather than just the outcome, you can take positives from the situation, even when you don’t achieve what you set out to.

3Share your failures in real time

Sometimes when you look back, you can appreciate how failing eventually helped you on your career journey. Perhaps you learned something important about what to do, or even what not to do. Maybe you changed direction, learned to innovate, worked on your resilience, or built motivation. Perhaps you let go of something that just wasn’t working for you. These stories are great to share but doing so as they happen makes a difference. If you can share your experiences at the time with those you trust you can garner support, and you can help reduce the feelings of embarrassment or shame that others may feel when they make mistakes.

Overall, it’s important to celebrate the failures that show you took a leap. Failing forward isn’t about toxic positivity and pretending to feel great about a challenging situation or bitter disappointment – this approach can be psychologically damaging over time. You can acknowledge and accept painful feelings you experience with failure, and it’s possible to experience challenging emotions and find ways to keep moving forward at the same time.

Failing forward is about learning from the experience, which helps you to grow and develop in the future. Not all failures lead to future success – some mistakes are lessons that teach us what we don’t want, or how not to approach a situation. There is, however, always something you can learn about the situation or yourself when things don’t go to plan.