Failure Required

Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. – Denis Waitley

Learning this lesson early in life would have saved me a great deal of grief. Often, something I tried would not turn out as hoped and I would give up. Then, calling it and myself a failure I was even less likely to risk anything again.

In “The 4 C’s of Leadership” I mentioned how “we expect you to fail” at Spout Springs. Not “we allow it” –  we expect it.

Growing up I did not understand two key principles:

• Everyone fails
• Repeated failure precedes success

Here is some of what failure does:

• Failure builds character and maturity – think of the child (or adult) that has had everything come to them easily. Not a pretty picture.

• Failure is a tool – mistakes teach us more than success.

• Failure feeds grit – grit is learning to not interpret failure as a crisis.

• Failure provides experience – someone wise told me, “No child learns what ‘hot’ means without getting burned.”

• Failure prompts creativity – it is obstacles that promote new thinking and innovation.

In his book “Failing Forward” John Maxwell gives follow-up questions for when we fall short. They are:

• What caused the failure: the situation, someone else, or self?
• Is what happened truly a failure, or did I just fall short?
• What success is contained in the failure?
• What can I learn from what happened?
• Am I grateful for the experience?
• How can I turn this into a success?
• Who can help me with this issue?
• Where do I go from here?

BONUS: No failure – or success – is 100%. Always evaluate.

What is an important lesson that failure has taught you?