Mistakes and Failures Are Not the Same

In Silicon Valley, failure is one of those words that is bantered about like a badge of courage.  Entrepreneurs are quick to say, “My first two companies were a total failure.” Others respond by saying failure is a good thing, or, “I will never invest in an entrepreneur who has not failed.”  

Ha!

Failure can be a great teacher and we all learn from it.  But not all failures are seen the same way. An MIT engineer is going to get more failure forgiveness passes than someone who is not as credentialed.   Someone with a past success is going to be forgiven more than someone who fails without that success. Not all failures are the same and, although failure may not be a career killer, success is always better than failure.  Don’t be fooled by the “failure is a badge of honor” credo.

But something else is happening that is more worrisome than the belief that failure is a good thing.   That is, some are confusing making a mistake (screw up) with failure.

A mistake is when you harass and belittle an employee and it is captured on video.  A failure is when you don’t spend enough time on talent management.

A mistake is when the leaders create a corporate culture like a fraternity house.

A failure is when you wait too long to hire the “A Level” Team.

A mistake is when you tweet about a major change in the organization without consulting others.

A failure is when you don’t spend enough time on communications and there is confusion.

A mistake is when you spend on extravagant business purchases.

A failure is when you underestimate how much “runway” is left at the current burn rate and you run out of money.

A big mistake is when you mislead investors and others about the success of the company.

A failure is when the team works to make a good company successful and, for any one of a million reasons, it doesn’t work out.

A mistake is when you screw up or do something that you know isn’t right.

A failure is when you give it your best but things still don’t go your way.

Failures can make for a great story.  The lessons learned from a failure can move you toward success.  Mistakes can make for an embarrassment you would rather not talk about and there may not be a recovery.

So before all of us in Silicon Valley congratulate ourselves on how failure can be a badge of honor and how we ignore past business problems, let’s take a reality check.

Not all failures are the same.  Don’t confuse mistakes with failures.

Pearl Bailey said, “I’ve been poor and I’ve been rich.  Rich is better”.

For an entrepreneur, the metaphor is, mistakes can kill your career, you can recover from failures BUT, it’s still better not to have that failure in your past.  

[feel free to follow me or add me on LinkedIn]

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Richard is the author of the new book The Thing About Work: Showing Up and Other Important Matters [A Worker’s Manual]. You can follow his writing on Twitter, Facebook, or at his website at richardmoran.com.

Richard is a noted San Francisco based business leader, workplace pundit, bestselling author and venture capitalist.