The Right and Wrong Ways to Fail
“Many notable success stories began in failure: Henry Ford went bankrupt before starting the Ford Motor Company; Thomas Edison and his colleagues tested thousands of materials before creating the carbon-filament lightbulb; J. K. Rowling received twelve rejections before the first Harry Potter book was published.”
So begins an article that deserves the attention of everyone who will at some point fail (i.e. everyone!) before they succeed. It turns out that there is a right and wrong way to fail. An article summarizing research on failure offers some interesting and surprising insights.
The authors looked at data surrounding success and failure in three different endeavors:
Grant Applications (776,000 in all) to the National Institutes of Health
Funding Proposals from the National Venture Capital Association of over 50,000 startups.
The Global Terrorism Database (really) of 170,00 terrorist attacks over a 45-year period
Success in each of these initiatives was driven by the way in which leaders learned from their prior failures (not if they learned). This short, provocative article deserves your time if you’d like to know Why Do Some People Succeed After Failing, While Others Continue to Flounder?
Share this one with the young people in your life.
