The new entrepreneurial ecology appears to be more tolerant of failure. Stories in the media of failed entrepreneurs who eventually made glorious comebacks pervade our culture. These tales end with an encouraging morale: it’s OK to fail and you can survive it – even thrive despite it. Like a badge of honour, more entrepreneurs now display their failures proudly.
But, is failure trendy? Has failing suddenly become fun? Do you have to fail in order to succeed? Does failure serve any real purpose? I’ll be the first to say I hate to fail – winning feels a lot better. Failure isn’t fun. However, on closer look, one would see that failure has its benefits. Still, what’s the point?
The essence of failure
Like any entrepreneur, I’ve had my fair share of failure in the process of birthing ideas. Hence, I know that failure can be a wasted resource, if not harnessed. “Wasted resource?” You read right. Truth is: each setback bears valuable feedback, if you’re ready to learn – and in business, feedback is a resource.
Failure means something didn’t go right, was out of place or miscalculated; factors didn’t align for desired results. When this occurs, there’s little benefit in wasting time crying over spilt milk. Certainly, it helps to moan your loss, but don’t forget there’s still work to be done. In this case, what’s also important is the opportunity being offered – the chance to unlearn and relearn.
Entrepreneurs should make peace with the fact that the essence of failure is learning. That’s the point. Failure is feedback and an opportunity to review one’s steps. In my view, that’s its main use; I really don’t see any other because I think we need to put failure in perspective. It’s not fun, exciting or pleasant – it’s simply an occasion for learning.
Why did you fail?
After an episode of business failure, many years back, I sat to have lunch with a mentor. He sat quietly, listened to my lament and observed my pity party. When I was done, he gently asked: “Why did you fail?” I expected consolation first and didn’t see his question coming.
My mentor wanted us to retrace my steps to see where I had missed it. He began to ask a lot of questions; shortly, I caught on. By lunch end, it became clear to me why I had failed. He didn’t care about my pity party; he was more concerned about my growth and that I learned from my blunder.
Failure is a resource, but do you know how to use it? One way to enjoy this resource is to first find out why you failed. Why did your project go above budget? Why did the marketing campaign flop? Why did you miss your sales target? Investigate; that’s how you begin the process of unlearning and relearning.
Success after failure
Failure is now a tool for learning and effective entrepreneurs engage the learning process with one purpose in mind: TO DO BETTER. It’s not just to be part of the modern entrepreneurship rhetoric, show off ‘battle scars’ or engage in reverse humility. The proof that you’ve learned from your failure is better performance. Like the renowned TV talk show host, Oprah Winfrey, would say: “You know better, you do better.”
This is one reason why some people who experienced failure eventually succeed. They took advantage of the teachings and feedback that each setback brought, figured out why they had failed, made the necessary adjustments by unlearning and relearning, and went on to take a much better shot at their goals. Now, that’s a recipe for success!
Twitter: @SamuelMpamugo. Blog: theyouideology.com