How to Fail, Successfully

It used to take me forever to make a decision.

I was so afraid that I would make the wrong decision. It took me long, painstaking amounts of time to finally choose a course of action.

But, in the end, my long, drawn-out decision-making process didn’t do anything to improve my chances of success. It only made the process more tedious and painful.

I would excuse it as “perfectionism”. But, if I am being honest with myself, my perfectionism was only fear in the form of?procrastination.

Truth be told, I was afraid I would fail.

I have since learned that failing isn’t such a bad thing. Not at all. As a matter of fact,?failing is a good thing.

But if you’re going to fail, you might as well do it right. And yes, there is a right way to fail. It’s possible to be a successful failure.

How?

The best way to fail is to fail fast.

Why is failing fast the best way to fail?

• Failing Fast Helps You to Pivot?— If you were completely wrong, you can quickly choose a different course of action.
• Failing Fast Helps You to Iterate?— If you were?kind of?wrong, you can make minor adjustments and try again.
• Failing Fast Helps You to Learn?— It helps you to quickly gather data to make a better attempt.
• Failing Fast is Less Painful?— The sharp sting of failure is less painful than the dull ache of procrastination.

If you’re a procrastinator, like I was, here are a few things you can try to start failing more quickly.

• Have a Bias for Action?— When in doubt…act. Err on the side of taking action instead of waiting to gather more information. At some point the information you gather has diminishing returns. And you’re going to get more valuable information by taking the first step. Don’t be reckless, but take action sooner than you “feel” you are ready.
• Practice?— If you're someone who tends to procrastinate, break the habit by practicing. Start small with minor decisions. What should I wear today? Check the weather and grab the first thing. What should I have for lunch? Eat the first thing that comes to mind. Once you develop a bias for action on the small decisions, you can work your way up to being more proactive on bigger decisions.
• Iterate or Pivot?— If you take action, but don’t get the results you hoped for, you have two options. Iterate or pivot. You now have precious data! Data that you can use to try again, slightly differently (iterate). Or data that you can use to change course (pivot). Both are equally viable options. Just be careful not to pivot too quickly, and not to iterate too many times.

These days, I no longer take forever to make a decision. I gather the minimal amount of info I need … and I go.

Every once in a while I get smart, or lucky, and I succeed. Or I at least get off to a good start that I can build on.

And you never know, if you get started right now…

You just might succeed fast.