Beyond success as the only horizon: when failure is an opportunity for rebirth
The change of perspective on failure as a springboard to success
Until a few decades ago, only success counted: no room for any form of defeat. It was a culture influenced by the image of the 'self-made man', the entrepreneur capable of building an empire from scratch. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg were icons of the Silicon Valley capable of turning small businesses born in the garage at home into global giants. The film industry emphasised their stories, showing luxury and money but hiding emptiness and fragility under the carpet of the screenplay.
A toxic narrative, cleverly aimed at putting the shiny, glossy side of the story in the spotlight to leave the imperfections in the shadows. That rhetoric of 'will and might' that, while encouraging one to try, also stigmatises those who fail.
Failure becomes indispensable
.However, perhaps aided by social networks that have also started to show the more 'authentic' side of people's lives, a counter-trend has begun. When entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos began to almost proudly recount unsuccessful projects, failure was not only accepted but, at times, almost celebrated. Those who have never failed have not tried hard enough is a current of thought well expressed in the book "Fail Fast, Fail Often", in which authors R. Babineaux and J. Krumboltz argue that successful people tend to spend less time planning and more time acting: by trying innovations and making mistakes they benefit from unexpected experiences and opportunities.
Famous are some products launched on the market by big brands that, despite market analyses and huge investments in marketing, turned out to be a washout: Grand Soleil, Ferrero's dessert that never took off, New Coke, a sweeter version of Coca Cola that was not at all appreciated by consumers, Google Glass, smart glasses with augmented reality that failed due to privacy problems and an excessively high price.
But linguistically juxtaposing success and failure runs the risk of spreading a dangerous and misleading current of thought, conveying the idea that the only way forward is to combine these opposites. On the contrary, it is necessary to take a more realistic view by contemplating all nuances. Succeeding without ever failing is difficult (but not impossible), but more importantly, it is entirely possible to fail countless times without ever achieving glory.
