Experienced entrepreneurs understand that failure is part of the journey to greatness. But the sooner you learn to embrace mistakes as fuel for success, the faster your journey will progress.
Learning the causes of your failure is a necessary first step, but changing your attitude and perception about failure must also occur.
1. Take a Deep Breath
Step one in turning failure into success is taking a deep breath and clearing your mind. Feeling overwhelmed or anxious makes it hard to think clearly or make good decisions; to help relax, try this breathing technique: Sit comfortably in a comfortable position with closed eyes; breath in through your nose for four counts before exhaling through mouth for four counts before repeating several times until you feel more relaxed and focused.
Next, analyze your failures closely in order to learn from them. People who fail to learn from their past errors often repeat them, so in order to be truly successful it’s crucial that we examine our past failures and figure out where things went wrong.
Once you have identified what went wrong with your project or idea, the next step should be taking steps to put what you know into action. Unfortunately, many people spend too much time worrying about things they cannot control instead of working towards what they can control.
To maximize success, it’s also essential to surround yourself with people who can support you on your quest. Avoiding people who shy away from failure or play it safe will only hold you back; seek out people who can share openly about their failures so you can learn from their experiences while gathering courage to face your own obstacles head-on.
2. Ask the “5 Whys”
Asking “5 Whys” is a tried and tested problem-solving method used by teams to quickly reach the source of an issue. While five is an indication of when to stop, going beyond this number may divert your attention away from addressing what really needs to be solved.
To use the 5 Whys, begin by clearly outlining the issue at hand, making sure all team members understand it, and keeping everyone focused. This will enable easier identification of causes of any problems; additionally, remaining objective while answering each of the 5 Whys questions will keep everyone on the same page and prevent assigning blame during discussion of these queries.
Once you have clearly defined the issue at hand, ask why it’s occurring. While initial answers might point to symptoms of an underlying cause, it’s essential that you continue asking why until reaching a definitive root cause that you can measure for corrective action.
Use of the five whys will help identify any hidden issues that could be contributing to a problem, for instance if your store is experiencing low customer traffic it may uncover dissatisfied customers with service quality which leads to you developing an action plan to increase employee training so they can provide better customer care.
Importantly, it should be noted that the five whys method can lead to confirmation bias where people ask questions to support their preconceived assumptions about the cause of a problem rather than exploring all potential reasons. Furthermore, applying it to complex issues with multiple underlying causes can be challenging and more often than not it is beneficial to use an analytical tool like a fishbone diagram to map out causal relationships before engaging in five whys analysis.
3. Take a Step Back
An objective viewpoint can help provide new insight into why your project or task failed, providing clarity for what course corrections or pivots may need to take place in order to bring success.
This mindset shift is like switching on a light in your brain: Instead of measuring against goals you didn’t reach, this approach helps increase energy, confidence, satisfaction and the development of new skills and capabilities along the way.
When your team members encounter failure, encourage them to step back and examine the situation from an objective viewpoint. While this may be difficult for leaders, this step can be vital in identifying course corrections or pivots which will eventually lead to success. To facilitate this process, establish milestones and provide feedback in 1:1 meetings or team meetings; additionally, normalizing failure means praising smart risk-taking rather than punishing setbacks caused by experimentation – something which may encourage employees to keep trying until they find what works.
4. Focus on the Positive
Staying focused on the positives in both life and career is one of the best ways to prevent a downward spiral. Dwelling on past failures only serves to demotivate you from moving in a positive direction, as does setting difficult goals that leave room for failure.
Assuming you need to write 10 chapters before meeting a book deadline, it is likely you will encounter some form of writer’s block during this process. Instead of becoming frustrated by this setback, use it as an opportunity to gain more knowledge about book writing processes and devise ways of breaking through them.
Just as it would be wise not to take math lessons personally, viewing failure as lessons that lead you closer to success should also help keep emotions under control and redirect focus towards what lies within your control instead of worrying about things outside it.
If you’re having difficulty seeing the positives in a situation, reach out for assistance from a mentor or colleague to guide your approach. Also essential: surrounding yourself with people who possess resilience, courage, grit and perseverance as well as organizations which welcome failure as an avenue toward professional growth over rote achievement.
5. Take Action
Once you’ve taken some time to reflect on a failure, use the Five Whys to identify what went wrong and identify any lessons from it. Don’t rush this step; give yourself plenty of time to gain an understanding why things didn’t work out and understand why they didn’t go your way – this process will also give you time to process through any emotions associated with this difficult experience and emerge stronger at the other end.
Action is a critical element of the learning process. Making changes, even small ones, and applying your new lessons into tangible action plans will allow you to turn a failed attempt into an invaluable learning experience rather than simply an obstacle along your journey towards success.
Take responsibility for your own failure. Though it may be tempting to blame other people or external factors for it, doing so will only serve to hinder progress. Instead, commit yourself to own your mistakes and dissociating failure from who you are – failure doesn’t define who you are!
Never be intimidated into seeking support; nobody’s an island when it comes to entrepreneurialism! Reach out for guidance or feedback from mentors, peers or employees for guidance or feedback that could give unique perspectives or provide useful insight on how to improve. It’s also crucial that you surround yourself with people willing to be vulnerable and share their own experiences of failure – this will ensure you’re learning from some of the best in business while developing the grit, resilience and courage necessary to overcome obstacles on your path toward success.
