Reading: Lesson 4 – Learning from Failure

Description:

As an entrepreneur, not all of your ideas and plans will be successful. The fact that failure from time to time is inevitable should not stop you from trying. In this lesson, students will learn that some of the most important keys to success are how we handle failures and how we learn from failures. Moreover, students will learn how entrepreneurs can fail in a smart way in order to minimize the risk and the cost associated with failure.

 

Time Required:

45 min

 

Required Materials:

Internet connection, writing instrument 

 

Prerequisites:

Lesson 8.1 – Getting Started

8.4.A – Watch and discuss the following video using the questions below to guide your discussion [10 min]:

Video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkTf0LmDqKI
(SCVHA, 1:42 min)

“You’ve got to be willing to fail, to crash and burn…if you are afraid of failing, you won’t get very far.”

Discussion Questions: Failure Is Part of Success

1.  Have you ever failed at something?

 

2.  Have you ever not tried something because of a fear of failure? Did you regret not trying?

 

3.  Many well-known and loved products were the result of a process which involved failure and loss. Do you know any famous entrepreneurs who experienced failure, but who used the lessons learned from this failure to improve their products and create more value for their customers?

1. Thomas Edison – failed over 10,000 times before properly refining a lightbulb and creating the world’s first economically viable system of centrally generating and distributing electric heat, light and power
2. Bill Gates – before creating Microsoft he started an unsuccessful company called Traf-O-Data
3. Evan Williams – before co-founding the social media giant Twitter, he founded a podcasting platform. Apple released iTunes just a couple months after this podcasting platform was created making it obsolete.

 

4.  How would society be different if these entrepreneurs had not continued on after failing? What did they learn from failing?

 

8.4.B – Watch and discuss the following video using the questions below to guide your discussion [15 min]:

Video:(TEDx, 6:54 min)

“Humanity: Many desire success. Reality: Not all achieve it. Why? Because of one fundamental element of success: FAILURE. What does that mean to me?”

Discussion Questions: Failure Is Part of Success

1.  In the introduction Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player of alltime says, “I have failed over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed.” Do you agree that failure is required for success? Why or why not?

1. In this video Eduardo Zanatta explains failure is a fundamental element of success.

2.  What are the three principles for success that Eduardo Zanatta shares in his talk?

1. Don’t quit to early.
2. There is no such thing as failure.
3. The past does not equal the future.

 

3.  What does Eduardo Zanatta mean that there is no such thing as failure?

1. According to Eduardo, if you have learned a lesson and have given your best, then you have succeeded.
2. Robert Kiyosaki puts it another way: “Sometimes you win. Sometimes you learn.”
3. If we learn from our mistakes then failure is a vehicle. It is a connecting point leading us to success. Eduardo jokes, “Maybe you should go and fail as fast as you can.”

 

4.  Why might it be important for entrepreneurs to understand that past failures do not equal failures in the future?

1. Eduardo shares a message from Tony Robbins: “The only thing that keeps us from getting what we want is the story we keep telling ourselves about why we can’t have it.”
2. If entrepreneurs are discourage by past failures, then they will be reluctant to try again in the future.  Earlier in the video Eduardo tells the story of the legendary basketball coach, John Wooden, who went 16 years without winning a championship before his historic run of consecutive national championships.

 

8.4.C – Watch and discuss the following video using the questions below to guide your discussion [20 min]:

Video:(ReasonTV, 13:22 min)

“Failure is inevitable, says McArdle, who's also a Bloomberg View columnist. But how we handle our own failures and whether we learn from them go a long way in shaping individuals, institutions, and entire societies.”

Discussion Questions: Why Failing Well is the Key to Success

1.  What is good failure? What is a bad failure?

1. A good failure is recognizing that you have failed and admit things are going wrong.
2. A bad failure happens if you don’t learn from the failure, or you let it crush you.
3. As an entrepreneur and in life, you should try to put yourself in position to fail small, if you do fail, in ways that are not catastrophic.

 

2.  What does Megan McArdle mean that nothing is more dangerous than perfect safety?

1. According to Megan, the opposite of failure is not safety; it is nothing.
2. Perfect safety means that you are not innovating. It is risk to think you will be doing the same thing in 20 years.
3. When you think you have found a sure thing, you are not prepared if something goes wrong.

3.  Many people think that success and failure primarily depend on natural talent. What is wrong with this message?

1. Talent exists, but talent comes in different forms. People have different skills and abilities.
2. It is not about saying that anything is possible. We all do not have the natural talents to do anything we want.
3. It is important to learn what we can do better relative to our other talents.

 

4.  What does it mean to “fail faster”?

1. Megan references “fail faster” as she mentions the technological innovations of Silicon Valley. Technology entrepreneurs often use an iterative approach of starting small and testing. If it does work, they improve it. If the idea does not work, they kill it.
2. This approach allows entrepreneurs to learn quickly and minimize the impact of a failure.

 

5.  What is a one of the strengths of American culture that promotes entrepreneurship?

1. American culture has been good at encouraging people to try. We admire people who have tried and we pick them up if they fail and encourage them to try again.

Teacher Tip: Remind students they will be presenting the business model canvas they created for their business during the next class.

How different cultures treat failure plays a very important role in economic success.  

Lesson Recap

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• Failure is inevitable. All entrepreneurs will fail some of the time.

 

• Failure is a fundamental part of success if you fail the right way and learn from your failures.

 

• If you have learned a lesson and have given your best, then you have succeeded.

 

• A good failure is recognizing that you have failed and admit things are going wrong.

 

• Entrepreneurs should use an iterative approach of starting small and testing your idea. If it does work, you can improve it. If the idea does not work, you should admit the failure and move on. This approach allows entrepreneurs to learn quickly and minimize the impact of a failure.

 

Additional Resources

Article: 6 Truths About Failure Every Entrepreneur Should Embrace (Entrepreneur.com)

“Accepting fear is not easy, and indeed it can be a significant obstacle for many when considering the pursuit of new and unfamiliar opportunities. With the right expectations and an understanding of a few truths, however, the fear of failure can be a powerful weapon in your entrepreneurial arsenal.”

 

Article: Best Advice I Ever Got: Trust in the Process of Failure and Learning (inc.com)

Entrepreneurship is a winding, often uncomfortable journey. The trick to success is learning to live with that.

 

Article: 6 Stories of Super Successes Who Overcame Failure by Jayson Demers (entrepreneur.com)

“Failure is not the alternative to success. It’s something to be avoided, but it’s also only a temporary setback on a bigger, more significant course. Everybody encounters failure at one point or another. What truly matters is how you react to and learn from that failure.”