Celebrating Failure
"Failure is not the opposite of success, it's part of success." - Arianna Huffington
I am a failure and I’m so proud of it!
I left university in 2001, fearless and determined to do something a bit different. Quite quickly I saw an opportunity and, along with a friend, we took on an empty shop unit. After some research and successful funding applications we started work on refitting the shop into a coffee shop. We worked part time jobs during the startup, eventually opening the shop in October 2002.
We learned barista skills and fumbled our way through employing staff, dealing with suppliers and creating a cosy little shop that people wanted to come to. We had no idea what we were doing but we loved the process of figuring things out. It was hard and it was stressful on quiet days but we built a lovely little community of regular customers and we ate a lot of cake!
When we opened that shop there were no other coffee shops in the town, we were ahead of the game! But our sandwich trade was destroyed when Subway came to town, and we couldn’t compete. We closed our little shop two years after opening, with heavy hearts and feeling defeated.
We can’t ignore the disappointment and the pain involved when things don’t go to plan. When you have put so much of yourself into something and it ends, it feels hard. But wow, what a massive learning journey we were on. From the initial market research, to writing a business case with only my A level business studies knowledge to fall back on and applying for funding. We learnt so much from pushing forward into things we knew so little about and picking up what we needed to know along the way. We were not scared by our lack of knowledge but instead motivated by the confidence that we could figure it out. And we did figure it out.
It was not perfect; it was a disappointment in the end but my over-riding memories are the freedom and the joy of running our own business. We had so much fun!
I moved quickly into a temporary role, which became a permanent role and took me into the world of project management in tech companies. That was the start of a 20-year career in tech organisations which I would never have predicted during those coffee shop days. I kept those entrepreneurial behaviours with me and they are central to everything I do. This failure made me who I am today and taught me the resilience of picking myself up and carrying on.
So here is what I would love other people to learn about failure.
1. Don’t be scared to try. The worst feeling is the ‘what if’ of something you wish you had done but never tried. Its much worse to live with regret than live with failure.
2. Comfortable is dangerous. I’m a massive fan of taking the risk and living the adventurous life that comes with making those crazy decisions. Comfort is safe and predictable and, dare I say it, a bit boring! It’s not always about making big life changing decisions (although they are good too) but there are choices we make every day that are a choice between the safe option and the scary option of stepping out and trying something different. It can be something a simple as asking someone to mentor you or applying for a job you don’t think you are qualified for.
3. Taking risks is the heart of innovation. New things come from taking a risk and doing something differently. A risk averse culture will be really limiting innovation and exposure to new ideas. These cultures hold organisations back and will be haemorrhaging talent. My work as a consultant is to help organisations develop the behaviours central to innovation and taking risks is one of them.
4. Taking risks will lead to failure, I can guarantee it. The failure rate for new businesses is around 70%, so we are in good company! If you accept that it’s a possible outcome, then it limits the shock when it happens. Learn from the mistakes and keep moving forward. Take the next risk with the same enthusiasm and determination.
5. Celebrate failure in your team or organisation. Failure is clear evidence that innovation is happening in your team which is a really positive thing. Talk about the failures as much as the successes. Make sure to thank those in your team who tried and failed and ensure the entire team takes on board the learning from the failure.
If you do take the leap into something new, these are the two biggest lessons I learnt:
· Be prepared to pivot: You can do all the research and have a bullet proof business plan but the one thing that will help ensure success if your ability to come up with fresh new ideas and potentially change course.
· Build a strong team: Surround yourself with people who have the skills and experience to help you succeed. Most importantly, surround yourself with people who have the skills you don’t have. Be aware of your weaknesses and find people who excel in those areas.
· Don’t keep flogging a dead horse. Be prepared to stop. I am pretty determined and don’t give up easily so this one is hard for me. Accepting failure as a positive thing really helps when I have to admit defeat.
I’ll finish by saying that this business is not the only thing I have failed in. I was a really bad manager early in my career and I was once kicked off a project that I was managing as I hadn’t built a very good relationship with the customer. I am who I am today because of all these things and more. There have been failures but there have also been successes and I’m proud of all of it.
"The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing." - John Wooden