Failure and defeat are life’s greatest teachers
Salim Asger Ali
By Josephine Fairley Dt. 25 Sep 2013
Failure and defeat are life’s greatest teachers, but sadly, most people – and particularly conservative corporate cultures, don’t want to go there,’ comments Ralph Heath, US-based author of Celebrating Failure: The Power of Taking Risks, Making Mistakes and Thinking Big.
‘Instead, they choose to play it safe, to fly under the radar, repeating the same safe choices over and over again. They operate under the belief that if they make no waves, they attract no attention; no one will yell at them for failing because they generally never attempt anything great at which they could possibly fail (or succeed).’
Truly brilliant brands and ventures are usually born out of daring to rewrite (or tear up) the rule-book and do things differently – often putting a livelihood at risk (and sometimes a parent’s livelihood, too), to do it. As Ralph Heath notes: ‘The quickest road to success is to possess an attitude toward failure of “no fear”.’
We’re so used to celebrating success: popping a champagne cork when things go well. But I think we should also celebrate trying, even if things don’t turn out as planned. I’m often asked by would-be entrepreneurs about my attitude to failure and it basically boils down to: ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained’.
We all make mistakes along the way; often, things don’t meet our expectations – so it’s surely just common sense to start priming young people for that as early as possible, while (crucially) still encouraging and nurturing their individual talents.
Personally, at school, I wasn’t just ‘prepped’ for failure: I was actively told I’d never amount to anything. That was hugely significant, for me, making me utterly determined to prove the naysayers wrong. Nonetheless, I’ve certainly failed, at times. I’ve been fired. I’ve had projects and ideas rejected. I don’t love it, but each rejection actually made me more determined. Funnily enough, I never even got as far as reading Samuel Beckett at school (he was on the ‘A’ Level syllabus, and I left at 16), But I’d surely have been inspired by his words then as I am now: ‘Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.’
Three cheers, then, for the schools which are visionary to instill that attitude in their students. Because actually, I’d put money on them turning out to be tomorrow’s winners.
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| Salim Asger Ali |Project Accountant - KASC HES001| El Seif Engineering Contracting Co. |
':(+966-12) 6112940 Ext:233 Mobile: +966 0568608787 |
