Churchill on Failure

Fred Smith (Fedex) on Failure

"Fear of failure must never be a reason not to try something."
Fred Smith, founder of Fedex.

He should know...

Smith failed to sell his revolutionary concept of a hub and spoke logistics delivery system countless times, never giving up even in the face of countless rejections, until finally succeeding to set it up himself.

And the rest, as they say, is history (of Fedex)...

Jugoslav Petković on the Art Of Failing Gracefully

Jugoslav Petković talks about his personal "Unexpected Lessons in the Art Of Failing Gracefully" at the Fear & Failure Meetup in Ljubljana http://bit.ly/1hV50M2 March 2014.

** Petković Video **

Failure Conference Roundup

Failure conferences have become all the rage. On a personal note, I had recently keynoted "Fail Forward 2014" at Loughborough College in England, a first of its kind in the UK, aiming to change the culture, feeling and understanding of failure, by bringing people together and provoking conversation on the subject of failure as a precursor to success. Here's a short list of recent events around the globe: April 2014 Failure:Lab, Michigan State U, East Lansing, Michigan March 2014 Fail Forward 2014, Loughborough UK March 2014 Failcon NL, Amsterdam, Holland March 2014 Fear and Failure, Ljubljana, Slovenija Aware of other conferences and/or seminars on failure? We'd love to hear from you, drop us a line.

From Quora: "How can one learn to not be afraid of failure?"

Question from Quora:

"How can one learn to not be afraid of failure?"

"After listening to over 30 Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP) talks, I have come to the conclusion that I have not taken a significant amount of risk in my life and career thus far. My upbringing didn't necessarily nurture risk, but instead put an emphasis on "safety" and mild success. More specifically, if any of the great minds out there have some experience breaking out of the risk-averse lifestyle, I would really appreciate some examples of what your catalysts were."

My Reply:

"You have to realize that if you are going to try anything - you're going to fail. Failure is just a stepping stone (or, more typically, a FEW stepping stones) on your path to success. Nothing more.

Of course if you're not willing to try and tackle any new challenges - then you are not going to succeed at anything either.

We all fail, many times - even though it may seem some people have had it relatively easy and had struck it big without any hardship this is rarely the case.

A risk-averse lifestyle is fine - if you are willing to compromise. Never forget you only live once - make the most of it!!"

For more replies click over.

Google: fAilure Carries No Stigma!

Fast Company recently published a piece describing nine ways through which innovation is encouraged at Google.

GOOGLE REVEALS ITS 9 PRINCIPLES OF INNOVATION.

"Ever wonder what makes the Google the holy grail of productivity and creativity? There's no magic in the drinking water at the Mountain View, CA company. The tech giant draws from what Google's chief social evangelist, Gopi Kallayil, calls the nine core principles of innovation."

And at No. 8:

"8. FAIL WELL
There should be no stigma attached to failure. If you do not fail often, you are not trying hard enough. At Google, once a product fails to reach its potential, it is axed, but the company pulls from the best of the features. "Failure is actually a badge of honor," he [Kallayil] says. "Failure is the way to be innovative and successful. You can fail with pride.""

The Right Perspective

"The Biggest Difference Between Failure and Success is the Perspective"

Mark E. Walker, Strategist