“If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate.” – Thomas Watson, former CEO of IBM
This quote, while catchy, only tells half the story. It’s not just about failing more; it’s about what you do after you fail that truly dictates your path to success. Failure itself is a given, but the ability to learn and adapt from it is the real game-changer.
We’re often told to embrace risk, to be bold. Phrases like President Kennedy’s call to ‘dare greatly’ resonate deeply, urging us to step outside our comfort zones. Taking calculated risks, what we might call “intelligent failures,” is indeed crucial for navigating uncertainty and complexity. However, simply taking risks isn’t enough. The true “golden ticket” to progress isn’t just daring; it’s diligently extracting the valuable lessons embedded within each misstep.
The challenge lies in our inherent human nature. As Amy Edmondson, a Harvard Business School professor specializing in leadership and management, aptly put it, “Learning From Failure isn’t as easy as you’d think.” It’s a skill, and like any skill, it requires conscious effort and practice to master.
We all start with the intention to succeed. Whether it’s launching a groundbreaking product, discovering a life-saving cure, or inventing the next transformative technology, our goals are rooted in achievement. We may even brace ourselves for potential setbacks along the way. But the real hurdle isn’t the failure itself; it’s our capacity to genuinely learn from it.
The primary obstacle to effectively learning from failure isn’t its complexity, but rather ourselves. It’s our reluctance to confront our failures honestly, to pinpoint the root causes, and, crucially, to openly share what we’ve learned. Failing to learn from a failure is, in essence, failing twice.
In her insightful book, Right Kind of Wrong, Edmondson meticulously breaks down the concept of “intelligent failure.” She highlights several key characteristics. Firstly, it arises from ventures into uncharted territory, where established playbooks are nonexistent. Secondly, the potential reward justifies the risk taken. Thirdly, it’s informed – grounded in thorough research and risk assessment. Finally, it’s designed to minimize potential downsides, much like the principle of a ‘Minimum Viable Product.’ It’s about calculated risks, not reckless gambles.
Intelligent failure isn’t about being impulsive or careless. To truly leverage failure, we must commit to rigorously mining it for insights. Only then can we ensure that, as Henry Ford famously said, failure enables us “to move forward more intelligently.”
Research conducted by Lauren Eskreis-Winkler and Ayelet Fishbach reveals a common, yet detrimental, response to failure: avoidance. Instead of learning, many tend to gloss over it. Their research suggests that failure is “ego threatening,” causing individuals to instinctively tune out and disengage from the learning opportunity. Edmondson, in Right Kind of Wrong, further elaborates on the common pitfalls in our approach to failure, categorizing them into three primary reactions: skipping past it with superficial reassurances like “I’ll just try harder next time”; skating over it by superficially addressing causes without delving into deeper root issues; or deflecting blame by attributing failure to external factors rather than internal contributions.
Those who excel at “failing well” are not driven by ego, but by a deep-seated curiosity. Instead of assigning blame or pretending it didn’t happen, they meticulously examine failure, much like placing it under a microscope. They scrutinize their own role, even unintentional or passive contributions, to understand the full picture. Personal experience often reveals that our silence or delayed intervention can exacerbate problems, amplifying the negative consequences.
Entrepreneur Richard Branson, in discussions, has consistently emphasized the importance of learning from failure. Despite his flamboyant launch of Virgin Cola, complete with a Sherman tank in Times Square, the venture ultimately failed. Branson, however, didn’t dismiss it. He invested considerable time in a ‘post-mortem’ analysis to extract every possible lesson from this costly setback. His key takeaway was that Virgin had deviated from its core mission of enhancing the value proposition for customers. As he shared on NPR’s How I Built This podcast, “What I learned from that was only to go into business where we were palpably better than all the competition.”
While it might seem easier for established figures like Branson to openly discuss their failures, research indicates the opposite. Sydney Finkelstein, a Professor of Management at Dartmouth College and author of Why Smart Executives Fail, found that higher-level executives are often less likely to take responsibility for failures, tending instead to deflect blame.
Failure can be deeply unsettling, challenging our self-perception. If we haven’t developed inner resilience and self-awareness to manage our insecurities and fears, we become more susceptible to negative reactions. Instead of viewing failure as a growth opportunity, we resort to blame, either directing it outward or internalizing it as personal inadequacy. Shame and blame, though seemingly different, are two sides of the same dysfunctional coin.
Looking at the lives of highly successful individuals reveals a common thread: they never waste a failure. They may not necessarily embrace failure as a friend, as Edmondson suggests, but they have come to terms with it. They possess the self-awareness to recognize when their ego’s desire to avoid looking bad might be hindering their potential for greater good. Bill Marriott, Chairman of Marriott Hotels, once shared, “You get confidence by doing and learning and making mistakes and fixing your mistakes.”
From a broader perspective, every failure holds the potential for equivalent or even greater future benefit. Our task is to actively seek out the learning embedded within and apply it for future advantage. So, when you next encounter failure, ask yourself these critical questions:
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Am I taking enough intelligent risks to maximize my learning? Challenge perfectionism and allow yourself to venture beyond your comfort zone more frequently, accepting that “not nailing it” is part of the learning process.
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Am I honestly analyzing the causes of failure to extract maximum learning? “Mine” your failures for every possible insight. Recognize that complex failures rarely stem from a single cause, and the higher you ascend, the less likely you are to readily see your own contribution.
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Am I sharing my learnings and taking responsibility for my role? As discussed with Edmondson on the Live Brave podcast, vulnerability in sharing failures builds deeper trust than solely showcasing successes.
And for leaders, a crucial bonus question:
- Am I scaling learning across the organization, fostering a culture that encourages intelligent failure? Sharing lessons learned amplifies their value, cultivates psychological safety, and accelerates collective learning, enabling the organization to ‘fail forward faster.’
In today’s rapidly evolving world, accelerating our learning rate is a significant competitive advantage. The unseen costs of failing to learn from failure – lost opportunities, wasted resources, and diminished potential – are substantial, even if they are difficult to quantify directly.
To achieve greater success, embrace taking more risks, but never let a single failure go unlearnt. Make learning from failure a core competency, and you will unlock a powerful engine for continuous growth and innovation.
