Failing to Succeed

“Good people are good because they have come to wisdom through failure. We get very little wisdom from success, you know.” — William Saroyan

This quote caught my attention in a recent magazine. It seems to fly in the face of what our culture offers as the path to success. Oh, I know we are occasionally reminded in leadership articles about the many times inventor Thomas Edison failed in his attempt to build the light bulb. And there is a current radio campaign citing the failures of Abraham Lincoln prior to his becoming our nation’s president. But these examples seem lost to many of us as we try to figure out how to deal with the current economic malaise.

During an uncertain environment many leaders do whatever they can to reduce risk. This is a natural survival mechanism that may indeed protect our assets and ensure we will survive to live another day. But when our business situation is more volatile there is also opportunity for new ventures or products and services. Imagine what might have happened if companies like Sony threw in the towel after Japan’s defeat in the war? Their initial failures to produce rice cookers did not deter their attempts to become a world-class company producing innovative, high-quality products.

The lessons of failure are often painful and expensive. Yet they are lessons and leaders should consider how to apply them when conventional wisdom urges caution. Without failures there is no real improvement. Unless a product or service fails to deliver as promised the business can’t innovate or improve what it is doing. Failure provides an important context for any success that may be realized.

I know my need to succeed is quite high. My competitive nature and desire for perfection is a lethal combination. On one hand I want and need to take risks and make things happen. This drive is often tempered by the high standards of quality I expect in my work. Failing isn’t an option under these ground rules. But fail I must and fail I do. It is these humbling encounters with disappointment that teach real life lessons and the wisdom needed to grow and learn.

Our current economic ills can’t be overcome if we only plan to succeed. It’s time for our egos and security to be challenged. Failure may be just what is needed to right the ship and get back on track. Of course, we must learn lessons from these life experiences and be willing to share them with those we lead. Our willingness as leaders to admit our personal failures is the first step toward gaining wisdom from these circumstances. I don’t wish failure on anyone, including myself, but when it comes I hope I’m wise enough to learn from it. Maybe you can as well.