"Why do we fall, Master Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up again."
And more importantly, to learn what made us fall the first time. That is the beauty, the power of failing again, and again, and again. Succeed once, the first time, and you're done. You've figured out what worked, once, and learnt absolutely nothing about how the world works and how to succeed again.
Fail, and you get:
A clearly identifiable process gap, a problem that can be solved, andA chance to go again.
Here's a checklist of what to look for when the latest venture goes off the rails:
WHY: Can you identify the direct, attributable cause of the crash?HOW: What were the decisions, situations, and pressures that led to arriving at that point of no return?
WHAT: What information was used in deciding, and more importantly, missed - i.e. what was the 'if only I knew xyz' that would've prevented this?
WHERE: What were the warning signs that were, in the perfect 20-20 of hindsight, ignored? Would you recognize them again?
WHO: What were the missing resources - the right people, money, time, skills, effort - that you ran out of at just the wrong time?
WHEN: Can you identify, the next time, when failure is imminent and can be mitigated / prepared for? An exit strategy, an escape hatch, a plan B? When do you kick it into action, before it's too late?
Expect failure. Prepare for failure. That's how you survive it, learn from it. The 'all-or-nothing' approach sounds romantic and adventurous for the successful, but leaves very few survivors to talk about the lessons. Fail early, fail often, fail forward, but don't fail so catastrophically that there's no coming back.
And if you fail the same way twice... you're an idiot.
- lead image courtesy Rebecca Jenkins
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