Productive Vs. Unproductive Failure
I hope you fail this year. Is that coaching too hard? I hope I fail too. Is that better?
No really. I think its time we kick our fear of failure to the curb.
By definition, failure is just a lack of success. Oh, that’s it?
Yep, it’s also defined as the omission of an expected action. Doesn’t seem so daunting now does it? It just is or isn’t. No big deal.
But then we go and attach a HUGE meaning to what it means to fail.
I’m not smart. I’m not valuable. I don’t have what it takes. I’m not worthy. No one wants to buy from me. I could go on. I’m sure you can too.
Our minds can run wild. But how about we decide that failure (lack of success) can be a good thing? How? Here are a few ideas:
· You learn what doesn’t work. Duh. Thomas Edison knew this. He was asked if he felt like a failure for all the lack of success he had in creating the light bulb. Not so fast, he said, he found 10,000 ways a lightbulb wouldn’t work.
· You learn how to be resilient. Courage to try again is a real character builder. Learning how to manage your emotions in the face of adversity is a huge key to success.
· You gain a strategic byproduct that you hadn’t planned on. When I launched my first online course, it flopped. But the strategic byproduct is I learned so much about online marketing that I’m now able to teach what works (and what doesn’t) to my clients so they have a shortcut to success.
Now before we decide that all failure is good, let’s make a bit of a distinction. There are failures that are productive and failures that are nonproductive. Let’s distinguish between the two and why it matters.
Unproductive Failure
Early in my sales career, I had a scheduled call with one of my mentors. I reported in to her that I had no new leads or sales to report since our last meeting. She asked about my prospecting calls so we could figure out what was going wrong.
Silence. Crickets. I could literally hear the crickets.
Her: Um, so what happened on the calls?
Me: Ok, ok, there were no calls!
However, my desk was super organized. You see, any time I procrastinate I tend to organize things.
Even my paperclips. Big ones with big ones. Small ones with small ones. Or by color. Whatever it takes.
That way, at least I feel busy and ready to do business should said business waltz in the door through no effort from me. Sometimes I wish there was such a thing as sarcasm font.
I failed at getting new leads or sales. But not because I tried. But because I didn’t.
This type of failure is unproductive because there aren’t even any strategic byproducts.
Sometimes these are called escape fails. We just fail ahead of time so we don’t have to deal with failure. It can look like this:
Not taking action
Changing your mind
Staying confused
Giving up
Making excuses
Justifying inaction (organizing your paperclips)
What’s the outcome of Unproductive Fails – nothing. Even worse, it chips away at your trust in yourself to do what you said you would do.
Productive Failure
When I organized my first online course and failed, it was an EPIC failure. Months of work, and no sales. But looking back, it was the most productive failure of that year.
I created new training content that I still use today. I created several online marketing pieces that I use today. I learned how to create a message that connects with my ideal client. I got over my fear of showing up live online. I got over my fear of trying new technology.
But the biggest thing it did for me was to trust myself to show up. Because in the end, it didn’t suck that bad. Life went on. But I had learned valuable lessons that I am using today to show up again and again, even if I fail.
The outcome of Productive Fails are strategic byproducts like these:
Gain wisdom
Gain experience
Gain self-knowledge
Learn compassion for yourself and others
As you go forth and set those goals this year, just know, you will fail. And I hope you do. I just hope they’re productive.
The worst that can happen is a feeling about the failure. Are you willing to feel frustrated, defeated, embarrassed for the sake of your goal? Trust me, it sucks way less than you have built up in your mind.
Just go for it. In the end, you’ll be standing on a mountaintop of failures looking out over your successes. It’s a beautiful thing.