Failure is Not Fatal

Last week, my students and I visited the newest shopping mall in Singapore at the heart of Orchard Road, namely the ION Orchard. The field trip started with a presentation by the CEO on the competitive advantages of the new shopping mall. After the visit, one student contributed the following on the discussion forum:

"In addition, the CEO mentioned that one of the challenges that she had met in this process is that everything is a risk to her. Even by bringing in new options and having a global flagships is a new thing that they are trying out. I feel that it is an important thing for us to be innovative when it comes to tenant mix as often singaporeans feel that shops in singapore are always the same. Therefore, i agree with her that everything is a risk no matter what we do, we should not always stay in our comfort zone but to step out of it and give it a try, only then could we know if we are successful."

In this posting, I would like to expand on the student's reflection which remind me of 3 four-letter words, i.e. RISK, FEAR & FAIL! Over this weekend, I came across an interesting quotation by Theodore Roosevelt:

"The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything."

The author of the book Bringing Out the Best in People suggests that we should probably reprimand our group if they are not having a few flops, for if they're not failing now and again, it's a sign they're playing it safe. Jack Lemmon once said, "Failure never hurt anybody. It's the fear of failure that kills you... You've got to go down the alley and take those chances."

Seneca also said, "if thou art a man, admire those who attempt great things, even though they fail." The author warned a fatal mistake made by some is to lash out so harshly at young people for some failure that they scale down their aspirations and not longer strive for high goals.

When asked for the ingredients of good managment, a CEO once replied, "You need the ability to fail. I'm amazed at the number of organizations that set up an environment where they do not permit their people to be wrong. You cannot innovate unless you are willing to accept some mistakes."

In the face of failures, there are two possible responses: (1) Quit - unable to rise from their failure, they scale down their dreams and live out their lives in resignation and cautious mediocrity, or (2) Overcome - when they stumble, they pick themselves up, look around o learn from their mistakes, and then go on to finish the race with distinction.

The best managers expect their people to make mistakes, and instead of replacing staff constantly, they recognize that it is more efficient to teach people to cope with their failures and learn from their mistakes. They create an environment whereby FAILURE is not FATAL!

source: Bringing out the Best In People