You Suck At Failing
It's okay. I do too! I'll prove it:
About a month ago, I applied for a marketing internship with Anheuser-Busch, a company I highly admire and would love to work for one day. Through the extensive application process, I went through their multiple "fitness" tests that measure your logical reasoning, company cultural compatibility, and overall willingness to kick Heineken butt. I then passed my virtual interview and made it to the final stage, the panel interview in New York City.
The more I researched this company, the more I fell in love with them. Early opportunity for career growth, emphasis on work life balance, working in Manhattan, in-house coffee bar. You get the picture. As I boarded my plane out of St. Louis, I hoped that my trip to the big apple would bear big fruit.
Long story short: it didn't.
I quickly realized I suck at panel interviews. All I remember was shaking hands with the interviewers as I walked in, sitting down alongside four Ivy League students, and walking out mildly sweating.
Earlier today, I got a call from AB's Talent Acquisition person that started with, "Hi Drew, unfortunately...*Charlie Brown teacher noise*...have a great day!"
Not feeling wanted is a hard emotion to deal with. It's like I just got professionally dumped. Flirting and teasing me with free Ubers, hotel rooms, and flights, only to deny me for other, more attractive, applicants.
After reflecting about my failure to land this internship, I started to realize how much personal growth, career awareness, and positive outcomes actually occurred due to this entire experience. Through this process, as well as my entrepreneurial pursuits in college, I've realized our culture is looking at failure completely backwards.
4 Reasons Why You Suck At Failing:
- You Are Product-Oriented, Not Process-Oriented. It's easy to only prioritize the end result. At the end of the day, it's not what you see on the grade book, sales report, weight scale, bank account, or resume; it's how you got there. I believe the final product is arguably one of the least important inputs to success. When only the end result is emphasized, your attitude, effort, and growth along the way is often forgotten. When you fall in love with the process of failing, results will naturally emerge.
- You Are Micro-Focused, Not Macro-Focused. Sometimes, you just have to be patient. It's important to hustle, grind, and hone your craft, but there's a difference between healthy ambition and professional impatience. In the words of Gary Vaynerchuk, it's all about "macro patience, micro speed." You need to be incredibly patient looking at the big picture, while being super hard-working and ambitious in the day-to-day. This is a balance very few people maintain, especially for those early in their professional life. When failure arrives, this "macro-mindset" will allow you to see failure as an integral part of the process, rather than a roadblock to greatness.
- You Care Too Much About What Others Think of You. In any creative field, innovation always wins. However, innovation inherently requires immense risk, vulnerability, and lots of failure! So if you want to win, you need to get comfortable with public failure. If you're a pridefully insecure person, it's going to be super hard for you to pursue anything creative. Whether it's your controlling parents, ex girlfriend, crazy aunt Linda, or group of deadbeat friends, the perception of others will always tempt you away from pursuing innovation. Once you realize that failure is nothing to be ashamed of and the opinions of others don't matter, it makes it much easier to chase innovation.
- You Don't Even Bother Trying. It seems like 99% of people, whether consciously or not, would rather do something they hate, than fail at something they love. They would rather be comfortable, mediocre, and unhappy. This group of people can be categorized as negative, skeptical, and silently regretful to others. Misery loves company, and so does the 99%. This explains why they are the ones who tempt the innovators back into mediocrity. This is not a group you want to be in.
Anheuser-Busch Inbev is a powerhouse. One out of every two beers currently being consumed in the U.S. is an ABI product. They are one of the world's largest CPG companies, recruit only from the nation's premier schools (a.k.a. not my school), and get thousands of internship applications every summer.
Did I get this internship? Nope.
Nevertheless, getting the chance to sit down with executives, meeting other like-minded students, and getting to fly to New York for free was totally worth it, even with the panel interview blackout. I also realized that I get WAY more excited about the start-up companies I own than working for someone else. It took me this entire process to truly figure that out. And even though I technically "failed" to land this internship, I've realized I'm headed in the right direction.
In conclusion, I believe Roosevelt was right. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Likewise, if there's one thing you should fear, it would be not failing at all.
Stay Creative,
For more of my thoughts on "the process" check out the video below:
(& turn up your volume!)
For more info on what I'm up to currently, click the logo below ?
Retired Parkway Spark! Business Incubator Program Director, Marketing Instructor at Parkway South High School, DECA Advisor
7 年It is wonderful to fail/make mistakes, because it means you are moving! Proud of you Drew Rogers! #experientiallearning
Precision Medicine Made Simple
7 年Great article! Honestly, the number one lesson I learned from the Spark! Program-- Learn to Fail Fast. Thank Xanthe Meyer
AE @ Supio
7 年I once lost a final round interview at a company I admired. Filling in my friend a couple days later, his only thought was that I should reflect on the process as there would surely be some lessons to take away. Until hearing that I'd been more focused on trying to 'quickly bounce back' and keep pushing forward. Don't get me wrong, I still think it's important to push on, but there's a difference between dwelling and reflecting. And often we miss the chance to reflect because we're trying to avoid feeling down. His advice turned out to be important. Once I slowed down and reflected on the long interview process, I discovered areas of weakness in my application. I learned from that.
Independent Marketing and Advertising Professional
7 年'This wasn't an experience in failing; it was a learning experience...one of many that will help you eventually succeed well beyond your wildest dreams.
360care Area Manager Missouri
7 年Well written, clear and concise thoughts . You always keep things in perspective which is fantastic. Many great leaders and Presidents of companiesand even Presidents of the United States (i.e.Abe Lincoln) have failed many times before making it big or achieving their dreams. Very proud of you Drew! Your perspective and maturity are to be admired - Well done!