Written by Kinzi
In an interview I had recently with a Jordanian business owner, I heard something rang true and put words to an idea that had come up fairly often. I had asked him why a government official was stone-walling on a decision that seemed a very clear, win/win scenario. So clearly a win that it was a no-brainer, even to me, and the stalling seemed incomprehensible. The business owner answered:
“We Jordanians fear failure”
He went on to say that the fear of failing was greater than the fear of an excellent opportunity lost, because it would be considered a ‘safe’ option. That the risk of admitting one was wrong was a much more costly proposition than the loss of ‘what could have been’.
This gentleman said: “They don’t even know what they are missing out on. They won’t risk of a few thousand JD on a project that would be a career-maker for them. I have started seven business in the last twenty years, only three of them have made money. But what I learned from those failures I profited on later. I would not be where I am today unless I had learned from them, picked myself up and dusted off, and tried again.”
Yesterday at the Executive Forum with Leadership Formation, I listened to two well-known Jordanian executives give examples of strategy failures that led to other successes. Great stories, and great examples others can learn from without making the mistakes themselves.
These two men were not ashamed by ‘failure’, and are at the place where both are willing to take risks and see where either success or failure will take them. Not only that, but they give their employees the authority and freedom to risk ‘failure’ and have reaped the benefits both in profits and in employee satisfaction with the corporate culture.
Failure only truly occurs if nothing was learned in the process. Adapting a new strategy allows people to fail forward.
Subzero Blue, one of the original Arab bloggers, had a post about it today that is worth reading through. He discusses failure as the ultimate Arabian Taboo. Subzero Blue writes, “this fear of failure is ingrained in our Arab culture; Failure is regarded as the end; a burning mark, a label that will be associated with the person for the rest of his life. The society looks differently at people who have failed, it looks down on them in some way; even people whose accomplishments in life never amounted to much think they are better than people who have failed.
Yes, in our culture, whether we like to admit it or not, it’s regarded as better to sit around doing nothing, never try and never officially fail than to actually go out, take on a challenge, try and fail.
This is a fear that is imprinted in the back of most people’s minds, holding them back from going out there, trying new things, experimenting with new projects, overcoming boundaries, and fulfilling their full potential along the way.
No, everyone wants to be a winner, and they want to win from the first time; it’s either they have that, or they’d rather play it safe, and just hover around in life not taking any risks, letting their great ideas and ambitions wither and die, and not really accomplishing any of the things they really want to and can if they just tried.
Perhaps part of casting vision for the future should involve rehearsing what was learned from failure, and trying again. And making the statement ‘we tried that before‘, an ultimate taboo.
