INSIGHT on the article “The Entrepreneur and the Cult of Failure”

Daniel Isenberg‘s article in the Harvard Business Review April magazine, entitled “The Entrepreneur and the Cult of Failure” caught my interest. Since this is about entrepreneurs, I find sharing my insights on it ‘blog-worthy.’

This is Isenberg’s major point: failure has recently been embraced by a number of people as a way of an entrepreneur’s life. However, embracing failure is not to reduce the fear of it, but rather to reduce the anxiety that comes with it. Well, I am an entrepreneur too, but I don’t think I can embrace failure so well.

I agree with his point that failure is a part of doing business. As in my previous post that encourages ‘treating business as a grade school science experiment,’ an entrepreneurial venture like any other experiment is subject to failure. But failure is not the normal way of life that should be embraced; but failure happens in every experiment especially when it is the first time one does something different. As entrepreneurs, we always want to do something different. I guess this is one of the major reasons why entrepreneurship, doing something different, and failing are concepts that in conventional wisdom, always go together.

Let us make this clearer by means of an analogy; let’s take riding a bike for example (which is the most commonly used analogy in the entrepreneurial literatures). Let’s say you are 25 years old and this is your first time to ride a bike. It is possible that ‘theoretically’ you have seen others ride a bike, you have conversed with others with regard to some tips and tricks on how to ride a bike, or you have read some manuals on how to ride a bike. However, no matter how much information you have, you still don’t know how to ride a bike until you’ve experimented on doing it–doing it the first time. You apply all the theories, you’ve perfected your moves, you follow all the tips during your first time, but does it mean you will not fail? Of course not! I bet, you will flunk the first time you DO it no matter how much knowledge you have. KNOWING is different from DOING.

Failing, therefore is not the normal state, but just a part of anything that is done differently, or done in the first time. It should not be embraced, but just accepted.

Let’s go back to the biking example. If you haven’t done your preliminary research, the tips and tricks, the theories, what would have been different? The length of time before you succeed. Because you know the theories, although it is just your first time to ride a bike, you will flunk just a couple of times before you succeed. But if you don’t know the theories and tips and tricks in the first place, will you succeed that fast? I don’t think so. Compare it to business, this is where the management theories and entrepreneurial education come in. As Isenberg elaborates:

“Contrary to myth, entrepreneurs are not reckless gamblers. True, risky business is an intrinsic aspect of pushing the innovation envelope. But it’s important to train entrepreneurs to fail small, fast, and cheaply. Inexpensive failures don’t make headlines—and don’t cause embarrassment or shame. Policy makers can support the training of entrepreneurs in risk-mitigation strategies and skills.

If you follow this advice, you won’t have to break out the champagne when entrepreneurs fail. Treating failure as a normal aspect of venturing into new business, and developing the right perspective on its value, will help fix the fear of failure without going overboard with festivities in its name.”

More about the importance of Business Education for Entrepreneurs in my future posts.