We’ve all heard about the importance of failure. We’re told failure is necessary to be successful; failure is just a stepping stone to success, new heights and achievements; failure is helping us grow, learn and become better. Finding the positive in failure is one of the mantras of the day.

But there is a catch! Actually, there are three:

How we really feel about it
no-one really wants to fail. Our mind may accept failure as inevitable – but our heart usually doesn’t. We’d much rather have the success without the failure.

How it comes across
Let’s be honest. Failure doesn’t sound good. No matter how hard we try to make it palatable. Have you ever tried to tell someone at a party a cheerful story about your latest failure (without a successful happy-end) and they were complimentary about the failure – not about you trying, but about the failure? Unlikely. You’ll get sympathy, a joking remark, a pat on the shoulder for trying and maybe some encouragement to try again.

It only makes sense looking back
The idea that failure is something positive only makes sense looking back. They make no sense going forward. If we plan on doing something, we’re no longing for the failure (because we need three more failures before we’re allowed to succeed). Failures are not the planned outcome. They are not positive before they happen. They only become positive after they happen – because that’s what we make them to be. The idea that failure is positive is us creating a story after the fact.

Ever heard of “fail fast”? That’s doubling down on the notion of the positive failure. Again, it only makes sense in a cerebral sort of way. Emotionally it’s even less appealing and it is unlikely to get much buy-in from your team.

Can you really imagine your team slapping on their knees and cheering about the management initiative that tells them they should now “fail fast”?

It’s not the failure that is positive. The positive is in the process. It’s in trying something new. It is in experimenting with options. The failure is just sometimes an inevitable outcome.

Yes, we can learn from failure. But that’s not the key. We learn much more – and we get more positive outcomes – if we get ourselves in a mindset of experimenting. In the mindset of experimenting, we can find an ease and lightness in the approach, that can get us to real results.

So, let’s stop failing. Let’s experiment.

Take the Next Step

Have you or your team stopped looking for new solutions? Where is the thought of a possible looming failure in the way of you trying something? Where can we let go of the notion of “failure” and move to a culture of experimenting – where creativity and innovation can lead to real results.