Failure

Don’t Be a Hypocrite About Failure (HBR). Every leader knows failure is important and necessary to succeed. Every leader is comfortable citing epic examples from other people — like James Dyson’s thousands of failures. But almost no one will openly discuss their own failures, and in many cases they act as if they can’t recall any at all…I get it. Leaders don’t want to feel vulnerable. They want to minimize their own failures. Doing so might seem harmless, but it’s vitally important for leaders not only to accept failure with lip service but also to cop to their own specific failures…Our failure hypocrisy is hurting our teams and our companies. If you’re a leader, it’s time for you to open up about failure. Yes, it will be embarrassing at first, but you will learn more and watch your team — and you — grow stronger. 

A checklist for overcoming life and career setbacks (80000hours.org). In the case of the minor annoyances we face every day, maintaining our equanimity can almost entirely eliminate the harm they cause us. And even when we face serious adversity, ensuring we think about it the right way can limit the damage, and save us from falling into depression or another negative spiral. To help myself with this, I’ve made a checklist of questions I try to work through when something unpleasant happens, in order to reframe the situation and get over it as quickly as possible. The basic idea is similar to cognitive behavioural therapy.

Survivorship Bias: The Tale of Forgotten Failures (Farnam Street). Don’t look just at what you can see. Consider all the things that started on the same path but didn’t make it. Try to figure out their story, as there is as much, if not more, to be learned from failure.

The 3 Stages of Failure in Life and Work (And How to Fix Them) by James Clear. This framework helps clarify things by breaking down challenges into three stages of failure:

1. Stage 1 is a Failure of Tactics. These are HOW mistakes. They occur when you fail to build robust systems, forget to measure carefully, and get lazy with the details. A Failure of Tactics is a failure to execute on a good plan and a clear vision.
2. Stage 2 is a Failure of Strategy. These are WHAT mistakes. They occur when you follow a strategy that fails to deliver the results you want. You can know why you do the things you do and you can know how to do the work, but still choose the wrong what to make it happen.
3. Stage 3 is a Failure of Vision. These are WHY mistakes. They occur when you don’t set a clear direction for yourself, follow a vision that doesn’t fulfill you, or otherwise fail to understand why you do the things you do.

The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination by JK Rowling. Rowling’s speech to Harvard graduates (class of 2008).

On this wonderful day when we are gathered together to celebrate your academic success, I have decided to talk to you about the benefits of failure. And as you stand on the threshold of what is sometimes called ‘real life’, I want to extol the crucial importance of imagination.

The Opportunist’s Guide To Failure by Darius Foroux. Most of us see failure as this huge thing. But failure is nothing more than a figment of your imagination. It’s your brain coming up with all these weird scenarios that probably will never happen. Failure is just an outcome. Nothing more. What’s the alternative? Do nothing? If you can live with the regret of not trying, go for it.

How to Turn Failure into Success (scientificamerican.com). The researchers dubbed this finding “the Hemingway effect,” for the author’s self-reported tendency to stop writing only when he knew what would happen next in the story—so as to avoid writer’s block when he returned to the page. Manalo believes that learning how to fail temporarily can help people avoid becoming permanent failures at many tasks, such as completing a dissertation, learning a language or inventing a new technology.

Talking About Failure Is Crucial for Growth. Here’s How to Do It Right. (NY Times). Even though most people prefer to process failure internally and quickly move on for fear of causing a scene or seeming unprofessional, taking the time to reflect on and communicate about unwanted outcomes can go a long way in creating more congenial, trusting and ultimately productive workplaces.

How I Deal With My Own Failure by Darius Foroux. Last week I was talking to a friend. He felt that he was a failure because he’s 31, his relationship didn’t work out, doesn’t have a lot of savings, and that he hates his job. To me, it’s not bad—you can change all of those things (except for your age). You can find new love, make money, and find a job that you do enjoy. It took me years to shift my view from “judging” to “looking forward.”

How To Keep Going Strong When Life Kicks Your Ass by Darius Foroux. Bad things happen to us. And it’s not a question of if something bad will happen, but when. So you better have a strategy to deal with setbacks…Even though it can always be worse—it still felt like life was kicking my ass. Here are 5 lessons I’ve learned that helped me to bounce back from difficulties.

Did You Fail At Something? Good—Do Something Else by Darius Foroux. Jocko believes that complaining when things go wrong is useless. He says: “…when things are going bad, there’s going to be some good that will come from it.”

Read This If You’re Going Through Adversity by Darius Foroux. In the midst of challenging times, we often think we’re going through the worst time ever. And when we’re in the middle of adversity, we think it never ends. It’s difficult for us to judge a crisis while we’re in it. In hindsight, it’s much easier. We can look back and think, “I survived that. I will survive other difficult things in the future.”

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