Failure- a cardinal qualification for success!!!

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word “Failure”? This is a question I have put up at various forums and the most common response that I have got is, “ Making a mistake and not reaching my goal!”

The Oxford dictionary gives various definitions of “Failure” which include, “Lack of success”, “The neglect or omission of expected or required action”, “The action or state of not functioning” amongst others. However, the most interesting one that caught my eye is, “The collapse of a business”! Does failure really mean an absolute collapse of business?

Over the last 2 decades in the industry, failure and I have crossed paths many a time. Our initial meetings were quite unpleasant, to say the least. Even the idea of meeting “Failure” appeared abhorrent to me. I am a firm believer in destiny and am convinced that the guy who writes it is no friend of mine. Destiny has always taken me to places, people and situations that I most detest! Sure enough, I had my first meeting with “failure” within days into my first job. The consequences of our meeting ensured that I make a resolution never to meet failure again. I redirected all my resources to avoid meeting failure, which till then were focused on ensuring a meeting with success. The more I tried to avoid failure the more frequently I met him till I had a change of heart and embraced Failure. I was of the opinion that Failure and success were sworn enemies and the only way to ensure that I meet success was to stay as far away from failure as possible. To my surprise, it was the failure that showed me the way to meet success. Over the years, it is the lessons that failure has given me that have facilitated my meetings with success.

“Seeds of success are planted in soil tilled by failure”

The light bulb has been one of the greatest inventions of humanity. On December 31st 1879, after years of work and thousands of experiments, Edison gave the first public demonstration of the incandescent light bulb at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. After the demonstration a reporter asked Edison after witnessing the demonstration, even he knew how to create light from electricity thus leaving no difference between him and Edison. Mr Edison had famously replied, Mr Reporter there is only one way how a light bulb could be switched on. You and everyone present have learnt that ONE method, however, there were over a 1000 ways that a bulb could not be lit. Fortunately, I am the only one who knows about those 1000 ways.”

Every meeting with failure makes you miserable, you get a feeling that the world is collapsing on you, it is the end of the world, your professional career is kaput. If you can relate to this then relax, you are not the only person to have had this feeling. Some of the most inspiring, successful and influential people in the world have had some abysmal failures. Studying the failures of others is one of the best ways to overcome failure. Failure is part of the process for success and you need to look at it as stepping stone rather than a roadblock.

Albert Einstein had said, “If you have never failed, you have never tried anything new”. He could not speak fluently until he was twelve years old. People around him could not have imagined in their wildest dreams what he eventually went on to achieve. The key to Einstein’s success was his diligence, resilience and willingness to fail- and fail repeatedly. He learnt from every failure and the failures made it possible for him achieve the unimaginable.

Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft is one of the most successful entrepreneurs of our times. We all know of Windows, Word, Excel and a host of other successful products from Microsoft but the first product developed by him Traf-O-Data 8008—a device that could take a look at traffic tapes and then process them into useful data. Gates made a sales pitch to the local County, but a minor flaw resulted in the failure of the demo: it didn't work. Bill and his partner Allen learnt from the failure and have said, " Even though Traf-O-Data wasn't a roaring success, it was seminal in preparing us to make Microsoft's first product a couple of years later". Not everyone will be as lucky as Gates, but just because you failed once, does not mean you should not try again.

Failure does not always precede success at times it follows success. Arianna Huffington is the President and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post. She like most successful people has had her share of ups and downs. She was the first foreign female president of Cambridge Union debating society. At the age of 23, she published her first bestseller -The Female Woman. Notwithstanding the success of her first book, her second faced 36 rejections. Huffington's approach to her own failures is positive. She recognizes the importance of failure and believes that failure is not something to be afraid of and it is not the opposite of success. It is a stepping stone to success. When you keep moving forward—despite the failures and obstacles along the way—you're already ahead of all of those people that just gave up.

Another example of a mountain of failures converting into the ultimate success story is Steve Jobs. At one stage Jobs was booted from the very company he helped found. After leaving Jobs refused to give up on creating products with value and found a new company called NeXT. That company did not see much of a success but was a pivotal stepping stone for Jobs and it allowed him to keep moving forward. Apple purchased the software division in 1997 and Jobs was back at Apple, becoming CEO in 2000. Jobs brought a lot of the technology and innovation from NeXT back to Apple.

Just because you encounter a setback—or end up on another path— it does not mean you are stuck. Keep innovating, implementing, and believing in what you do. You will get back on track eventually, and it is possible you will be even better off than before. Perseverance is everything. Do not give up, everybody has failures, but successful people keep on going. Take the lessons you learn from your mistakes and hold on to the parts that work. Eventually, with enough trial and error, you are bound to have an idea that works.

To conclude I will quote one of my favourite personality our the eminent scientist and former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam- FAIL is First Attempt In Learning!!!!!

Keep failing.....

Keep learning !!!!!!!