You can't fail if you don't give up

There are times when what may seem like a well-conceived idea just doesn’t work in practice. How should you deal with a failed idea?

Picture credit: iStockphoto

To begin with, the emotional backlash should be overcome and the situation looked at objectively. Sometimes we just have to accept that we were wrong. We might feel discouraged but this does not mean we have to lose the passion that motivated us to think creatively and implement our ideas in the first place. Any failure is an opportunity for learning and growth if it is handled constructively.

A failure could become the first step on a longer journey leading to success. The life of Florence Nightingale offers excellent examples of this. When she was in the Crimea, she believed wrongly that the high death rate in the field hospitals was a result of malnutrition and fatigue rather than poor sanitation – an idea that cost an unknown number of lives. Ultimately, learning from her error, her work revolutionised nursing and no-one would regard her contribution to nursing as a failure.

Learning from failure

If we want to make the most of the learning opportunities presented by a failed idea, it is important to consider the various interactions that brought about the failure. Rather than simply giving up on an idea, it might be possible to modify the way it is applied, thereby increasing the chances of it working in the future. The change might be a minor one, or perhaps the original concept simply needs adjusting, but either way reflection is called for.

For example, you may believe you have found a way to improve patient education, but is the information being presented in such a way that the patient finds it easy to understand? Will they retain that information? The only way to find out is to test your idea. If the results are unpromising to begin with, you may be tempted to give up but should you? There’s nothing wrong with the principle behind it. Maybe the methods just need to be adjusted.

Although we might recognise all of this on an intellectual level, often it is difficult to look at a failed idea objectively, especially when it is our own brain-child. When our ideas fail, we see ourselves as failures and fall into despondency. Our confidence is in tatters and we believe ourselves incapable of good ideas. Recognising this pitfall helps us to escape it.

Conversely, it can be tempting to place the blame for a failed idea on someone else. Blame should not be an issue and no matter whose fault it was, the idea failed and it was your idea. Take responsibility without flagellating yourself unnecessarily. Own the failure, but don’t let it overcome you. Some motivational speakers will even tell you that you should celebrate your failures.

Examining your idea to see why it failed doesn’t mean that you should obsess about it. Decide what you should learn from the experience and then leave the failure behind.

Almost every successful person will tell you that their failures ultimately contributed to their success. There is no reason why the same principle shouldn’t apply to you. The difference between successful people and those who allow failure to overcome them is the courage to keep on trying. Thomas Edison, inventor of the light bulb, was once asked if he would continue working on the invention despite his many failures. His response revealed his attitude to failed ideas: ‘I have not failed. I have just found ten thousand ways that won’t work.’

Knowing what doesn’t work is just as important as knowing what will work, and the only way to find out which is which is to keep on trying. Every failure increases our experience and brings us closer to success.

About the author

Nicola Davies is a health psychologist and writer
Twitter: @healthpsychuk