As you know, I’ve been on my dumb company kick ever since the recession started as nothing disgusts me more than good companies flushing themselves down the toilet from a seeming inability to stand out from the crowd and do the right the thing. It’s something I still can’t fathom, despite my best attempts, but after reading this recent blog post over on Harvard Business by David Silverman on How Successful CEOs Respond to Failure, I may have found another answer.
They’re afraid to fail. And that’s just stupid. Everyone fails. Even the doctor. The difference between those companies and individuals who enjoy grand success and those who don’t is the smart companies don’t release the failures. Great companies and great people learn from their mistakes, fix the problems, and then go on to design and release a great product or service. Remember Tom Watson‘s formula for success:
It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all. You can be discouraged by failure — or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because, remember that’s where you will find success.
Or, as the author notes:
the professional makes as many mistakes as the amateur, the difference is, a professional fixes them faster.
So go forth and fail. You’ll prosper faster that way!