Topic Guide
What Is Failure?
Failure is a subject covered in depth across 3 podcast episodes in our database. Below you'll find key concepts, expert insights, and the top episodes to listen to — all distilled from hours of conversation by leading experts.
Key Concepts in Failure
Good miss vs. bad miss
This framework distinguishes between types of failure not by the outcome, but by one's response. A "good miss" leads to making adjustments and learning, while a "bad miss" involves making excuses and avoiding awareness, thus impeding personal growth [25:05].
Keeping failure and success together
This concept posits that success and failure are not opposing forces to be kept separate, but rather intertwined elements that balance each other. Failure provides humility during success, and success builds resiliency during times of failure, fostering a more balanced perspective on progress [13:46].
The success journey
This idea reframes personal and professional achievement as an ongoing journey rather than a fixed destination. Embracing this perspective allows individuals to continuously learn, grow, and take on harder challenges without the disappointment of reaching a perceived 'finish line' [19:14].
Everything is god (mindset)
This concept posits that there is no true failure or wrong; everything that happens, especially when things don't go as planned, is because it wasn't supposed to. This framework encourages trust in a larger process, focusing on positives over negatives, and actively seeking new opportunities rather than dwelling on setbacks.
What Experts Say About Failure
- 1.The primary reason people avoid failure is ego and an excessive concern for how they appear to others, not the inherent difficulty or consequences of the failure itself [00:00, 07:06].
- 2.It is more advantageous to "get in the game and fail" than to "sit in the bleachers and fail," as sitting out guarantees no win and disqualifies one from any potential success [00:00, 07:44].
- 3.The distinction between a "good miss" and a "bad miss" lies in one's response to failure: making adjustments (good) versus making excuses (bad), the latter of which inhibits awareness and growth [25:05].
- 4.Keeping failure and success together is crucial because they provide balance; failure instills humility during success, while success fosters resiliency during periods of failure [13:46, 14:48].
- 5.Successful individuals should openly discuss their failures and the lessons learned, as this encourages others by tagging failure with success and demonstrating that it can be overcome [29:25].
- 6.Admitting personal failures and imperfections as a leader (whether in business or family) builds deeper trust, connection, and provides a redemptive path for both the leader and those they influence [35:33, 37:35].