FAIL FASTER

A BLOG BY ROBIN SHARMA:
Full-disclosure: I'm not the first to use the term “Fail Faster”. But I love it. Coca-Cola CEO Neville Isdell, at the annual meeting informed shareholders that the company was now going on an innovation tear and that his organization's reinvention plan was contained in a document entitled The Manifesto for Growth (I adore that title). He noted that spending on marketing and innovation would increase by $400,000,000 and then - and here's the big line - observed: “You will see some failures. As we take more risks, this is something we must accept as part of the regeneration process.” Which brings me to the imperative of Failing Fast.

At a leadership presentation I gave a while ago to the sales team of a big pharmaceutical company, someone came up to me afterwards and said: “Robin, I loved your speech. Especially the idea about failure being the price of greatness.” Too many of us fear failure so we don't even try (Seneca once said: “It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare. It is because we do not dare that things are difficult”). Too many of us are afraid (there's that fear thing again) of looking silly or being embarrassed by failure so we don't take the risk and seize an opportunity. Too many of us think failure is bad. It isn't. It's good.

There can be no success without failure. Just part of the process. The companies and people who have reached the heights of success are the same ones who have failed the most. You need to fail to win. And the faster you fail, the more quickly you'll learn precisely what you need to do to win.  So Fail Fast. Outfail the competition. Outfail the person you once were.

I'll leave you with a quote from RFK: “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” Perfect.

Re: FAIL FASTER

Several wonderful folks and their quotes, failure… interesting what makes us fear failure? Getting the wrong answer? Being made a fool? Do we care and how do we take those steps from fear into action?
Steph

Re: FAIL FASTER

STEPH,

You are bang on target as regard to failure. The most important things that fear us most are the greatest healers for our life. As they say, “No gain without Pain”.

My message: Run towards your Failure & you will find your Greatest Potential & Satisfaction in Your Life.

Re: FAIL FASTER

 I'd like to share a short extract.(I don't know who has written this but I recieved it in my mail.)

It was a cold December night in West Orange, New Jersey. Thomas Edison's factory was humming with activity. Work was proceeding on a variety of fronts as the great inventor was trying to turn more of his dreams into practical realities. Edison's plant, made of concrete and steel, was deemed “fireproof”. As you may have already guessed, it wasn't!

On that frigid night in 1914, the sky was lit up by a sensational blaze that had burst through the plant roof. Edison's 24-year-old son, Charles, made a frenzied search for his famous inventor-father. When he finally found him, he was watching the fire. His white hair was blowing in the wind. His face was illuminated by the leaping flames. “My heart ached for him,” said Charles. “Here he was, 67 years old, and everything he had worked for was going up in flames. When he saw me, he shouted, 'Charles! Where's your mother?' When I told him I didn't know, he said, 'Find her! Bring her here! She'll never see anything like this as long as she lives.'”

Next morning, Mr. Edison looked at the ruins of his factory and said this of his loss: “There's value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God, we can start anew.”