Working through a book titled "Success on Purpose" by E.R. Haas and Kent C. Madson, I saw a note in pencil made yesterday. My note says, "Failure is not an option." I made it while listening to the CD that went with chapter one.
But, this morning, upon reviewing the previous day's lesson, I saw the written phrase and realized something. "Failure is not an option" shouldn't be read or said out of context.
Working in real estate sales 2005 to 2015, I heard and read about a lot of coaches available for hire. Thousands of books exist to help salespeople improve their souls for selling. "Failure is not an option" is one of the most common themes shared by the authors and coaches. It sells well and motivates because the salesperson definitely does not want to fail!
And yet, a trap awaits for those who believe the mantra without conditions. "Aha!," most of the book authors would retort, "There are no conditions! You cannot fail and be successful at achieving your expectation!" Then, many would use metaphors like flying in a plane and how careful one must be to stay on course, that changing course by one degree can place you in an utterly different landing situation.
I protest. Most of these authors fail to offer context.
They fail to mention how many thousands of flights made the successful fight possible. They fail to mention the mapping professionals, the avionics enthusiasts who wanted to learn to fly planes, the engineers that designed planes that can fly farther than 100 yards and the concrete specialists, who built the runway.
Most of these authors sensationalize success by not providing context.
Failure is an option. In fact, success requires failure.
Practice Makes Perfect.
It's The Failure Way.
