Is Fear Of Failure A Problem?
Online, March 18, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Lots has been written about the fact that most big successes are as a direct result of lots of failures (Edison's light bulb being the most quoted example).
This is often interpreted to mean that failure is good, and that you cannot succeed in anything without failing first - "Don't fear failure!" is the mantra.
But is this really true?
Is failure as important to success as it's made out to be?
In the articles below, three business experts give their opinions on this popular topic.
3 Great Ways to Approach Failure (David Peck):
Some "experts" go around saying failure's great. After all, they repeatedly mention, Edison had 999 failed filaments before the one that illuminated the first light bulb.
Let's not kid ourselves: failing professionally sucks, particularly during trying times. As most of us are NOT Thomas Edison, the 10th or so filament might in fact be career limiting / bending / ending, disturbing, and downright infuriating.
So I don't say failure's good-I tell my clients it CAN BE a good START, provided it's done well.
Years ago, we then-leaders of Charles Schwab & Co. got corralled in a hotel function room during a quarterly meeting. The "expert" gave us a task: walk up to each other, throw our arms up, grin like we meant it, and holler out "Yay! I failed!!!"
We were told this was to stress that we needed to be much more open to failure in our organizations. After it was over, there was much chuckling and eye rolling.
Why? No one believed it. After all, I DID "Talk to Chuck"-I really did, because he was my boss's boss. And referring to a high priority business I was running, he told me: "Peck, just don't screw it up." Although his name was on the door-every door-I don't think he got the memo that failure was a great thing.
That said, there's truth in the madness. I see so much butt-preserving behavior these days-unwillingness even to do anything that won't please others, that a little more failure pheromones would go a long way..
Visit the link below to read the full article:
http://www.managementnuggets.com/2011/03/is-fear-of-failure-problem.html
Learning from Failure is Overrated (Jason Fried):
You've heard it over and over: "Learn from your mistakes." Or maybe you've heard "fail early and often." There are plenty of catchy quotes about failure. Most of them end with a clever little twist that makes it sound like it's a good thing. Is it?
I don't understand the cultural fascination with failure being the source of great lessons to be learned. What did you learn? You learned what didn't work. Now you won't make the same mistake twice, but you're just as likely to make a different mistake next time. You might know what won't work, but you still don't know what will work. That's not much of a lesson.
Instead, put most of your energy into studying your successes. What have you done right? What worked? Why did it work? How you can repeat it? Instead of making something worse a little better, how about making something good a little better? Don't spend so much time looking down. Look up more.
There's a significant difference between "now I know what to do again" and "don't do that again." The former being better than the latter.
It's true: Everything is a learning experience. Good and bad, there's something to be learned. But all learning isn't equal. I've found that if you're going to spend your time pondering the past, focus on the wins not the losses. The lessons learned from doing well give you a better chance at continuing your success.
Visit the link below to read the full article:
http://www.managementnuggets.com/2011/03/is-fear-of-failure-problem.html
How Fear of Failure Destroys Success (Adrian Savage):
Trial and error are usually the prime means of solving life's problems. Yet many people are afraid to undertake the trial because they're too afraid of experiencing the error. They make the mistake of believing that all error is wrong and harmful, when most of it is both helpful and necessary. Error provides the feedback that points the way to success. Only error pushes people to put together a new and better trial, leading through yet more errors and trials until they can ultimately find a viable and creative solution. To meet with an error is not to fail, but to take one more step on the path to final success. No errors means no successes either.
In fact, one of the greatest misfortunes you can meet early in a project is premature-yet inevitably still partial-success. When that happens, the temptation is to fix on what seemed to work so quickly and easily and look no further. Later, maybe, a competitor will come along and continue the exploration process that you aborted, pushing on to find a much better solution that will quickly push your partial one aside.
Cultures of perfection:
Too many organizations today have cultures of perfection: a set of organizational beliefs that any failure is unacceptable. Only pure, untainted success will do. To retain your reputation as an achiever, you must reach every goal and never, ever make a mistake that you can't hide or blame on someone else.
Imagine the stress and terror in an organization like that. The constant covering up of the smallest blemishes. The wild finger-pointing as everyone tries to shift the blame for the inevitable cock-ups and messes onto someone else. The rapid turnover as people rise high, then fall abruptly from grace. The lying, cheating, falsification of data, and hiding of problems-until they become crises that defy being hidden any longer.
Visit the link below to read the full article:
http://www.managementnuggets.com/2011/03/is-fear-of-failure-problem.html