A few key ideas to critically examine the "embrace failure" mantra, which has frankly turned into propaganda. Presentation @ Monash University Business School 2017

1. Failure Myths
Dr. Ricardo Sosa
ricardo.sosa@monash.edu

3. Failure?
“Fail fast, fail often, fail forward, fail better”
Beyond the trendy mythology…

4. Failure isn’t the opposite of Success

5. “Donald Trump is a successful person”

6. “Vladimir Putin is a successful person”

7. “Kim Jong-un is a successful person”

8. “Julia Gillardis a successful person”

9. “Lance Armstrong is a successful person”

10. “The War in Afghanistan has been a success”

11. “It’s complicated”
For the right people at the right time, anything is a success
or a failure

12. Two lists…
“MY BIGGEST FAILURES”
…
…
…
…
…
“MY BIGGEST SUCCESSES”
…
…
…
…
…

13. Success  Failure
Failure  Success

15. “Babe” Ruth hit 714 home runs in his career (1914-1935)
He also struck out 1,330 times in his career
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cliffbaise/4479440032

16. “Alfred Nobel was full of
ideas; he said ‘If I have a
thousand ideas a year, and
only one turns out to be
good, I am satisfied’.
I, too, am full of ideas, and I
would be satisfied with one
good idea per year”
Dr. Linus Paulinghttp://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1962/pauling-acceptance_en.html

18. “Effectuation Logic”
Saras D. Sarasvathy
Professor in Business Administration & Entrepreneurship

19. Effectual logic (vs. casual logic)
Principles:
1. “Bird in Hand”
2. “Affordable Loss”
3. “Patchwork Quilt”
4. “Lemonade”
5. “Pilot-in-the-plane”
www.effectuation.org

20. “Abductive Reasoning”
Charles Sanders Peirce
Philosopher, logician, mathematician, and scientist

21. Abductive Reasoning
• Deduction: “theory-driven”
• Induction: “observation-driven”
• Abduction: “consequence-driven”

22. Deductive Inductive Abductive
All A are B
C is A
Thus, C is B
All observed A are C
Thus, all A are C
C is observed
If A, then C would follow
Hence, there is a reason to suspect A is true
(Peirce 1934)

26. “It then took me 5,127 prototypes to
develop the final machine, each failed
prototype informing the next one.”
James Dyson

28. https://www.standard.co.uk/business/business-news/dyson-reinvents-the-vacuum-again-and-a-smart-cleaner-could-be-on-the-way-9066199.html

29. “CV of Failures” Activity

32. Reflect
What is your attitude towards failure?
How have you been educated to face failure?
What could be positive about failing?

33. Ask
Learn from others’ mistakes
Identify the numerous failures behind
successful people / businesses
Look for ‘trial and error’ processes
(in Nature, Science, Society, Learning)

34. Challenge
Try doing something new,
anything you haven’t tried so far
Focus on your emotions toward error
Overcome, learn, persist and improve

35. Failure vs. Success
Cultivate a paradoxical combination of:
Confidence (perseverance, obstinacy)
+
Learning (openness, humility, feedback)

36. Discussion
What if you stop seeing failure and success as opposite?
What changes at work? In your personal life?