I think we often come across an advise that unless we try, we cannot succeed. The only reason why we do not try is the fear of failure. The main concern is that once anybody fails, (s)he fears the tag of “failure” that would be placed against his/ her name, which could lead to fewer opportunities in the future. I think this is the way our brain is wired in terms of perception, which prevents us from trying unless we are very sure of a positive result.
I like the approach of “Fail Fast”. This approach directs us to attempt, instead of fear, and refrain from worrying only about results. This approach demands courage and conviction about one’s belief in oneself, and the power to perform. It does not, however, restrict you from sufficient preparation or fact-finding. Once a readiness to attempt is harnessed, half the battle is won. The remaining half can be won through apt preparation and a well-structured strategy. The inspiration that one draws from this “readiness to start” is huge and commendable. This is very important. Every Ambition that we have, largely depends on the Belief we carry and Commitment we accord to it. If a person has understood this ABC of success, failure will start gradually depleting in his life, owing to the confidence and candor that he would always possess. Understanding this concept is very vital.
Flipkart and Amazon have used this concept in the eCommerce space in India, and have succeeded in a big way. They have come up with disruptive strategies which in some cases, were being implemented for the first time. They did not fear failure, and were keen on proceeding with such strategies for their maiden attempt and made it big. In the manufacturing sector, we have examples of Royal Enfield and Mahindra, who have boldly taken the “Fail Fast” approach.
Fail Fast also has its own set of risks associated with it, which need to be measured in reference to the context where it is being applied. Not all business models and all the cases may allow affordability of this approach. Hence, one needs to be vigilant. It needs to be weighed in terms of its benefits and shortcomings and then used decisively. Use of creativity is of utmost importance in this approach. One of the paradigms is the flow of additional opportunities, that it could offer to owe to the attempt made, upon succeeding in it. Every possibility of success comes only after attempting to take up a project/ case, without the worry (read ‘fear’) of failure.
Every failure makes us wiser and enables segregating of solutions, enabling us to reach closer to success. As Edison said, failing 99 times made him aware that these 99 solutions were not the right ones. The process of elimination is one of the effective ways of choosing the right solution.
