Zane Safrit is thinking about the role of failure, posted at the Duct Tape Marketing blog complex.
I’m a fan of failure. Maybe it’s because I’m so familiar with it. That familliarity has taught me great lessons like humility, compassion, patience, perseverance, planning, flexibilty. And it’s taught me that no success comes without failure. In fact most successes are built not on top of mountains of failure, but on top of mountain ranges of failure.
He tells the story with running as an example. (Something I would never have thought of doing.)
Safrit says that not only do failures allow you to learn, they feed into each other, build on one another, until you have learned enough to reach the next success. Remember that we don’t learn much from success; we are too busy being successful right then to learn! We can do our best learning from our failures. If you are trying to hide a failure, you can’t learn from it. The shame is not in failure; the shame is in failing to learn from it.
His conclusion is dead-on accurate:
Failure. It’s way over-rated as a sign of …failure; way under-rated for its role in signifying progress.
small biz rural entrepreneurship success failure
- Zoom Towns: attracting and supporting remote workers in rural small towns - December 10, 2020
- In an economic crisis, spend your brainpower before your dollars - November 25, 2020
- Video: How to fill empty car dealership buildings for the holidays - November 6, 2020
- How has 2020 changed the challenges rural small towns face? Tell us here - October 20, 2020
- The Idea Friendly Method to surviving a business crisis - October 6, 2020
- Join me for the Rural Renewal Symposium online Oct 13 - September 26, 2020
- Cheap placemaking idea: instant murals - September 11, 2020
- Refilling the rural business pipeline - July 7, 2020
- Huge vacant buildings: grants to renovate? - June 9, 2020
- Economic self defense for small towns - June 7, 2020
Okay. I can’t take it any more. What the heck is with all the posts on Failure? I must’ve missed the original theme of them. What are you getting at here? : )
You finally snapped! :)
Here’s the theme: failure is essential to success. As small business people, we have to work through a mountain of failures to reach success.
It’s all part of my evil plan to redefine the word “failure” so it does not imply a negative judgment.
The other half is I’ve been waiting for someone to comment on any of it. You are the first one brave enough to take on the subject!
I love this. What a great idea. Have you written a much larger piece on this and it slipped by me?
Well, it wasn’t as long as the Catblog Content Engine, ;) but I did do one. Back on What is “Failure”? Right at the end I gave a little intro to this recurring feature. I think you were busy conquering more worlds when it went up. :)
So, at your prodding, I have put up a summary of my master plan.