If you’re familiar with the company culture here at Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp., you know that we welcome failure as a part of our learning and growing experience. Our CEO, Jeff Stibel, is a supporter of the failing forward concept. He encourages us to recognize and cherish our failures, learn from them, share them, and then let them go. One of the main ideas behind “failing forward” is that when you’re learning from your failures and making efforts to improve, you’re setting yourself up for success (failing forward).
In Mr. Stibel’s latest Linkedin post How to Fail the Right Way, he outlines how to turn failing forward into a strategy for success. He explains that our successes and failures are linked by our ability to calculate and manage our risks.When we start turning our “guesses” and “gut-feelings” into assessments of our odds of success or failure, we’re on the right track. While the ‘all-in’ mentality can pay dividends when running a business or taking a risk, it is not always the best strategy, especially if it ends in failure (the loss of your business). Mr. Stibel believes that the best kind of failures are the small “strategic losses” that put us closer to developing strategies that work. These small calculated risks won’t cost you your business and can provide the stepping stones for growth; ultimately, our failures can potentially create our success.
Madhuri A., a commenter on Jeff’s recent post, shared a perfect quote that I think embodies failing forward:
F.A.I.L itself means First attempt in learning!
While we never plan to fail, failure is one of the greatest teaching tools we have to learn from.
As a 21-year-old, soon-to-be college graduate, the concept of failing forward takes away the scariness of failure. The environment here at Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. has taught me to handle my missteps with grace and to move on. It’s refreshing to think that by making the ‘right’ failures, I’m contributing to my future success.
Photo Credit: Chris Griffith, Flickr
