The Oxymoron of Being A Successful Failure

"If you are going to innovate, you have to have a high risk tolerance and a strong appreciation that failure can be a good thing"- Todd Yellin        

There is a widespread belief that you must get it right the first time or you will lose out on a lot, and this has hurt many brilliant careers and start-ups. There is no such thing as perfection when it comes to life stages. Every single innovative idea that turned out to be the best user and customer experience product started out with lots of rumpled papers in the bin and new blank ones waiting to bear new ideas.

It is good to have a strategic end but the end is not perfection, it is merely the beginning of new improved ideas. You must realize that failure does not imply you failed as a start-up, an entrepreneur, or an employee; rather, it means you tried it a different way and discovered what should not be done. Here are some takeaways on how to build strategic successful failure mechanisms:

1. Write out the reasons why that idea would not work
2. When you understand the negative outcomes, outlining the positive outcomes become easier
3. Write out your competitive differentiator: Every person or business owner wants to believe they offer unique services or products but sometimes what you offer is just a neatly wrapped-up version of a general commodity. Take your time and asses your product/ service from a customer's point of view and if you will be willing to pay more for such services/products.
4. Make a product/service framework: This is a one-pager on the product/service, realistic value in terms of social and financial outcomes, unique selling point, and market research response
5. You've probably tried the idea and it failed, turn to page two and try the next one
6. By the second/third try, you've added an addendum to your UVP, and with this actualizing the best process for your product/services becomes easier than when you first imagined it.

Walt Disney is one of the biggest media conglomerates because they understood the magic of creative imagination as the backbone for successful innovations.

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