Failing Successfully
Rohit Tandon
Sr. Managing Director, Global Consulting Services AI & Data Offering Leader, Deloitte
In the new world we keep coming across all talk of failure more than ever before.
Starting from facts “x% of startups fail”.
And “y% of eating joints shut down within 1 year of opening”
Corporates are now adopting this whole approach of “Fail Fast”
And talking “Embrace Failure”... “It’s ok to make mistakes”.
But I find that mostly they are picking these up with little to no idea of the spirit of the idea of failing. Because while most are talking about failing, very few are talking about learning from your mistakes.
And unfortunately, people and managers pick up a phrase or two and don’t know that even in the world of failure there are some rules.
Sharing here are my rules for failing and making mistakes… feel free to add your own
1. Fail Once…else you won’t learn the valuable lesson of how to get up… and how to help others get up
2. Fail Twice … Else you will never know your limits and you it a sign that are not exploring your full potential
3. Fail Early (not Fast!!!) Its best to fail early in your endeavor than late when you have overinvested
4. Fail New … don’t make the same mistake twice, make new ones its fine
5. Learn to Recognize Failure … document what failure looks like so that you can recognize when it happens, just as you would document what success means
6. Their Failure, Is your Failure… learn from others failure, not just your own
7. Don’t aim to Fail… Aim to Succeed, but be prepared to handle failure
8. Celebrate Failure … but only if you met all the above criteria
9. Stop thinking about that failure and move ahead … you cant move forward if you keep looking over your shoulder
Advisory roles
6yBrilliant
GCC & Transformation Leader | Ex-IBM, GE, Genpact, Nokia
6yInteresting, I was ticking myself against the list 1. Done 2. Done 3. Yes Just on time 4. looking for it 5. Definitely, I have learnings for life 6. have to improve on this 7. Who does this? 8. Agreed 9. Already did that. Will save this article for future use too. Thanks for sharing
International Executive and Technology Advisor with CEO and CIO experience
6yI liked it Rohit Tandon. Very compelling and more comprehensive than the usual "companies should be willing to accept and even reward (good) failure" (generally true in Silicon Valley and very much in-line with the #leanstartup principles). When failure is not an option you won't have disruptive innovation. Companies that accept failure (which is not an enemy of excellence or a demanding and performance oriented culture) tend to have less politics and finger pointing. Indeed, "sometimes the biggest risk is not to take a risk".
Founder, Aselector Technologies
6yGreat crisp post, Thanks Rohit. Hoping not to fail :) My mantra - Fail, but dont fail to give your best and dont fail to get back.
Vice President & Practice Head
7yTake it in the right perspective. It's conclusive that the task failed. Not leaving anything to ambiguity. Avoiding waste of effort retrying with the same set. 😊