Why Failure Can Be a Success

Learn how perceived failures can lead to success. Discover the importance of learning from mistakes, fostering a culture of error, and persisting through setbacks for growth.

How to learn from mistakes and how an alleged failure can still lead to success

Failures are part of everyday life and usually people don't like to talk about them – especially when it comes to professional matters. Author and strategy consultant Gerhard Scheucher explored why this is so and why one can grow precisely through failure.

Whether a project doesn't work as desired, one wasn't considered for a vacant position by the dream employer, or one failed an exam multiple times – when it comes to failures, the first impulse in many cases is to gloss over the faux pas or sweep it under the rug. Very few people openly talk about a failure and own up to it. This silence leads to stigmatization and the non-acceptance of mistakes in society. Furthermore, it leads to even fewer people daring to publicly announce their individual failures – a real vicious circle. Yet, making mistakes visible would bring a useful learning effect and would have the advantage that they would probably not happen again.

A culture of error should also be possible at the workplace

Of course, companies strive for continuous success and are constantly looking for profitable innovations. However, many overlook that this is usually not feasible without risk. If a company wants to develop further, it often has to break new and previously unknown ground. Sometimes it would be useful to press the stop button during the ongoing process, pause, and question whether the chosen path is suitable for achieving the self-imposed goals, or whether the measures should still be adjusted. Moreover, companies do well to offer their employees the necessary freedom to try out different things.

Get up one more time than you fall down

If you take a closer look at some success stories, you will realize that every triumph is often preceded by a series of defeats. They are the result of the seeker of success getting up one more time than he fell down. It is always important not to give up after the first setback and throw in the towel. In such a situation, one must classify one's failure as a temporary event and continue with the newly gained insights – even if there is a risk of suffering another setback.

For example, if the inventor James Dyson had been impatient, he would never have invented the bagless vacuum cleaner. He built an incredible 4,126 prototypes before the product was finalized and ready for market. And if the now world-famous author Joanne K. Rowling had stopped looking for a publisher for her manuscript after the first publisher rejected it, then no one would know the "Harry Potter" book series, which has now sold over 500 million copies and been translated into over 80 languages.