There was an interesting article published recently in the Chicago Tribune.\u00a0 In it, a member of Chicago\u2019s iconic business clan, the Pritzkers, talked about failure and the role it has played in shaping his life.\u00a0 While we have discussed failure here in the past, it\u2019s a subject worth revisiting from time to time, if only to keep failure in perspective.\u00a0 So for more on this subject, and one Pritzker\u2019s take on it, please read on.<\/p>\n
Does fear of failure motivate or paralyze you?<\/strong><\/p>\n Addressing a group on entrepreneurship, J.B. Pritzker, scion of the Hyatt Hotel chain said, \u201cI have spent my adult life so far trying and failing.\u00a0 And I\u2019ve learned way more from failures than I have from successes.\u00a0 I look at failure as something you do along the way to success.\u201d<\/p>\n In his extraordinarily popular TED talk (*), creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson said, \u201cIf you\u2019re not prepared to be wrong, you\u2019ll never come up with anything original.\u201d\u00a0 He might equally have said, \u201cIf you\u2019re not prepared to fail . . . \u201c<\/p>\n The problem is, fear of failure is a two-edged sword.\u00a0 For some, the fear of failure is the motivation that drives them forward . . . the commitment, the determination, and the resolve to do whatever is necessary to avoid failure.\u00a0 But for others, fear of failure is the glue that binds their feet to the floor, immobilizing them and preventing them from moving forward.<\/p>\n Does that mean \u201cDamn the torpedos, full speed ahead!\u201d is the correct response to any problem or opportunity.\u00a0 No, of course not.\u00a0 But entrepreneurs to need to realize that doing nothing is not necessarily a \u201csafe play.\u201d\u00a0 In fact, doing nothing can have far worse consequences than taking action.\u00a0 As someone once said, \u201cI\u2019d rather be sorry for something I did than something I didn\u2019t do.\u201d<\/p>\n So the message is, when facing a problem or opportunity, avoid a knee-jerk reaction.\u00a0 You shouldn\u2019t automatically go \u201call in,\u201d but nor should you become a deer in the headlights.\u00a0 You should consider all the possible responses to whatever situation you find yourself in, weigh the pros and cons, the risks and rewards of each, and then make the best decision you can.\u00a0 If it doesn\u2019t work out the way you\u2019d hoped, follow Mr. Pritzker\u2019s advice: learn from it and treat it as \u201csomething you do along the way to success.\u201d<\/p>\n Oh, and by the way, if you\u2019re going to give yourself permission to fail once in awhile, you must allow others the same priviledge.\u00a0 If you want your people to learn and grow, then failure has to be one of the learning tools available to them.<\/p>\n (*) http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2009\/OPINION\/11\/03\/robinson.schools.stifle.creativity\/<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There was an interesting article published recently in the Chicago Tribune.\u00a0 In it, a member of Chicago\u2019s iconic business clan, the Pritzkers, talked about failure and the role it has played in shaping his life.\u00a0 While we have discussed failure here in the past, it\u2019s a subject worth revisiting from time to time, if only<\/p>\n