Those of us in technology are fond of the line from the Apollo 13 book and movie: "failure is not an option." Back then, it was something to revel in, a bunch of NASA nerds working around the clock to figure out a strategy that would save the three astronauts' lives and get them back to Earth safely. It was a good story then, and still is.
But I wanted to talk to you today about a somewhat different point of view, that failure >is< an option, and in fact, those of us that fail frequently are better for it. The trick is to think of each failure as a learning and growth opportunity, especially how you can learn to triumph over your own business adversities. Easy to say now, especially as these failures are illuminated in the dim light of my faded memories, but still.
This isn't a new concept. For example, Jeff Atwood in his blog, Coding Horror, says, "Fail early and often."
(http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000576.html)
And Mitchell Ashley in his blog says: "If you aren't seeing some failures along the way, it's a pretty good idea you're not stretching, challenging and really going for it. You're probably believing in your own assumptions and plans too much."
(http://www.theconvergingnetwork.com/2008/02/fail-early-fai
l.html)
Other people have called this concept rapid prototyping: put something together quickly, barely working, to show your customers or clients.
