Failure Happens | What can we learn when business goes wrong?
Without failure, there is no learning, no growth, no upleveling. This is ok, but it seems the public perception of failure is often that it’s bad, it’s hard, it’s ugly.
I think it can be ugly (ghastly, at times), and it can feel hard (like really, really hard), but it’s not bad. It’s never bad. It’s not wasted.
It’s necessary.
In my view, we don’t talk enough about failure in business, and when we do, there are two paths we tend to take.
The Path of Shame:
I should have never tried.
Maybe I’m just not good enough.
Well, this is a sign: time to pack it in.
The Path of Give Yourself a Talking To:
Well, that didn’t work.
I know what not to do.
If I do that again, it’ll be like last time.
The second one probably sounds healthier, right? Only it isn’t. It’s part of the same failure mindset as the first one.
Learning from Failure
Getting thrown off by mistakes instead of learning from them? In my opinion, that’s the real failure. But I think a better question than “what can we learn from failure?” is “how can we learn from failure?”.
It’s one thing to pick yourself back up and carry on, but it’s our mindset going forward that determines whether we go on to do average things or great things (whatever “average” and “great” mean to you).
That’s because fixating on failure is not the same as learning from it. The trick is to find the lesson, and internalise that rather than the memory of the failure (and the fear of repeating it).
Mindset Mistakes to Avoid in Business
I’ve seen some stuff, alright? I’ve worked on both sides of things: getting it set up right from the start, and fixing it up when it goes wrong. Thankfully, these days I spend a lot more time on the prevention side of the fence.
When it comes to failure and dealing with it, here are the most common mistakes I’ve seen:
Treating fear like an enemy
Don’t threaten yourself! If your thinking goes something like “if you don’t get it right this time, you’ll end up like last time” then it just isn’t helpful. It’s more likely to paralyse or demotivate you than it is to kick you into gear. If you’re choosing your actions based on what you’re aiming to avoid, then you can unintentionally impair your overall performance.
It’s ok to be scared following a failure, or even before something has failed—the thought of it can give you some sleepless nights, I know that first-hand. That’s why preparation is so important.
Are you feeling fearful? Rather than freezing or dulling your sparkle, prepare. Think about how you’ll manage if the worst happens, and guard yourself against it. That frees you up to do what you do best (and get enough sleep while you’re at it!).
Not being prepared to fail
The most successful people prepare for failure. Don’t confuse this with preparing to fail—it’s more about knowing the risk profile of your actions, and having a plan for if something does go wrong.
Without a plan, we’re likely to take the path of least resistance, and that often looks a whole lot like admitting defeat on our vision, or reducing our goals until they’re safe but don’t have the impact we want.
Thinking small
If your goals are small and they don’t work out, it’s going to feel like you’re failing a lot.
Set highly specific, far-reaching goals. Then everything that works, and doesn’t work, becomes part of that journey, rather than individual goals that feel like they could make or break everything.
Lacking the conviction and courage to take the next step
Yes, it’s hard to pick yourself back up after a fall. Sometimes it can feel insurmountable. But you can flip the script. Don’t lose sight of your big goals because something didn’t work out. Take the lesson, and take the next step, knowing that it was a necessary part of getting you where you’re going.
I’ll leave you with this quote from an extraordinarily successful businesswoman:
"We need to accept that we won't always make the right decisions, that we'll screw up royally sometimes – understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it's part of success." ― Arianna Huffington
The truth is no great success was ever achieved without failure. It may be one epic failure. Or a series of failures – such as Edison’s 10,000 attempts to create a light bulb or Dyson’s 5,126 attempts to invent a bagless vacuum cleaner. But, whether we like it or not, failure is a necessary stepping stone to achieving success, and ultimately, to achieving greatness (whatever that looks like for us).
P.S: Masterclasses 1 & 2 are brimming with stuff that’ll help you structure your risk mitigation strategy so that if whatever can go wrong, does go wrong, you won’t miss out on much-needed sleep. I’m offering 25% off until December 31st 2022, so grab them while they’re hot!
Use code 25OFF at checkout.
Get Masterclasses
P.P.S: Whether you’re new here, or you want to feel secure about your business decisions from a legal perspective, my guide Building Your Small Business: The Beginners Handbook includes the stuff you need to think about when running a small business.
P.P.P.S: Next on the blog I’m talking about clever businesses that bounced back from the brink, so make sure you subscribe to my email list to get notified when it drops!
