Don’t Fail — LEARN

I’m not the first person to say this, but I really hate the “fail fast” mantra. The whole concept of being okay with failure doesn’t make any sense to me. I don’t know anyone who thinks failure is a good thing or something to aim for. We are all looking to succeed.

However, there is a core of truth in this idea — the critical importance of learning quickly. This is a subtle shift in thinking, but an important one. The goal of most projects should be to learn — to test a theory. Maybe you’re trying a new product design or a new marketing campaign. It is critical to clearly define what you’re trying to learn. For instance “does this ad have a higher click-through rate?” or “does this product design result in higher utilization?” Far too many projects have some success criteria, but no clearly defined learning objectives. Focus on what you’re trying to learn — not just what you’re trying to achieve.

Having a clearly defined question means that answering the question is a form of success — it is learning. These questions can be invaluable even when a project is successful. Many people find repeating success hard because they never really understood what was behind their success in the first place.

But even if the answer to your questions is “no” when you wanted it to be “yes”, you have learned something. This new information can inform your next theory and test — and help you move towards ultimate success. Learning what doesn’t work is an implicit and inevitable part of the figuring out what does work.

Or, as Thomas Edison famously said of the lightbulb, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Originally published at https://jeffkeltner.com on September 29, 2020.