FC NOW: The Fast Company Weblog
October 18, 2005
Failure as a Success Strategy
Look beneath the surface of many great business successes, and you're likely to find a trail of failures that preceded them. Describing the painstaking trial-and-error process that led eventually to the creation of the incandescent light bulb--and General Electric--prolific inventor Thomas Edison said "I have not failed. I have merely found 10,000 ways that won't work." Many people would have given up, but Edison had the heart of The Experimenter. Henry Petroski, in his classic book To Engineer is Human, says that in his field, failure is almost a prerequisite for success, because only by reaching a point of failure can you define the limits of possibility. I am not sure I would interpret that idea literally for business vetntures, but I do know that lots of stellar successes are built directly on a series of small failures. British entrepreneur James Dyson reports that he built 5,127 prototypes of his cyclonic vacuum before getting to one that was commercially successful. That dedication to the Experimenter role is truly extraordinary, but so was the reward the now-billionaire Dyson eventually received. At IDEO where I work, we try to maintain a sense of "joyful failure" about quick early prototypes, knowing that learning from those first rough versions will point us in the direction of future successes.
Posted by Tom Kelley at October 18, 2005 12:00 PM | Category: guest host: tom kelley |
9 Comments
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I should be on my way to finding a way to actually commucicate with Walmart Corporate if failure rate has anything to do with it then.
I have never been lucky enough to work in an environment that truthfully encouraged a thinking atmosphere that encouraged failure.
Wherever I worked, no one was ever going to step in front of a bullet.
http://journals.aol.comrogdodger1/nowhearthis/
I absolutely agree. In my own personal experience, I decided four or five years ago to pursue my passion in shifting my communications business from an agency model to a consulting/coaching model. There were failures. More failures than successes. It got so tough at times that I sought inspiration in the life & times of Winston Churchill. And at other times, I wondered whether my own willingness to accept "joyful failure" was too much to ask of my family. But ultimately I prevailed. And life is great. I wouldn't recommend it for everyone. But it worked for us.
Good luck you entrepreneurial adventurers!
Many people have good plans. Plans that evolve from meticulous analysis, research, etc. But too much can paralyze you.
You must do something eventually. Only by doing will you learn what is needed. Six years ago, I started a training firm. I had a nice business plan in place but had no business. I asked my CPA for advice on kick starting the company. He said simply, "Get customers". So I put the business plan aside and worked hard to get customers. I had many doors shut in my face but at least I knew who did not want my service. Eventually I found a niche customer.
So try, try, and try again. You will learn along the way.
One small quibble here. Yes, we need to be willing to fail in order to succeed, but that does not mean that failure is a strategy (or intentional). Rather, it is a side-effect of what the real strategy should be--the willingness to try new things, consistently and without the fear of failing.
Tom, not sure if you had chance to read a book on this topic by Sayan Chatterjee? The book is called Failsafe Strategies and it’s based on a unique perspective that instead of waiting for a home-run innovation, companies can boost their profits long-term by clearly understanding what causes everyday strategies to fail.
Failure isn't a strategy, but I've read that something like 90 percent of well-conceived strategic plans are never successfully executed. And two-thirds of corporate change efforts fail. So we're all failing, most of the time. Having witnessed failing, dysfunctional organizations up close and personal, what has struck me most is how many corporate executives and directors gloss over seemingly obvious failures, creating an environment that inhibits useful change efforts. "Designed to Fail" is the phrase that often comes to mind.
No one plans to fail; failure is part of ones experiences. Because of these and other experiences, leaders learn and adapt. These transitions come from the challenging situations managers confront, and require the development of new concepts and ideas. These challenges call for executives and entrepreneurs to assess and advance in improving performance and individual development in a globally competitive environment.
Strategies are plans for the future that utilize prior knowledge and experience, which in this case include failure. Henry Mitzberg (1987) explains in a metaphoric manner implying that the strategy maker manipulates and molds strategies as if they were clay. Successful business leaders learn with mistakes, failures and other experiences to modify or mold strategies as needed.
Applicable concept to many endeavors. Take direct marketing...where else can one be a success with a 98% failure rate? The point is to keep trying till you do succeed.