When did willingness to fail become a disorder?

ROTW Contributor: Angela Durden

I've seen this Trump Fail picture posted on Linkedin several times as a political statement; it's made its way around social media as well. I've said nothing about it on social media, but on Linkedin I'm horrified...and, as a longtime business owner who has had to reinvent her business several times, and currently has added to her descriptives "forward-thinking software-solution inventor," I can tell you that picture insults the heck out of me.

I'm especially horrified to see it on Linkedin given the fact that supposedly everybody here has a company...or is looking to work for a successful one. One person who posted it is someone I know personally, as in real life, as in we've had coffee and chats several times over the course of at least ten years. I know how hard he's worked on a certain project -- a wonderful idea! -- and I know how long he's been unable to make it happen in various ways, but he has not quit trying to find the solution to roll-out. I loved that about him.  

And then my friend posted that stupid picture above. That's when I had to rethink again about his idea of what business is--and is not. 

If failure is not an option, then nothing of any benefit gets done.

Have we or have we not all failed in business, maybe many times? And are we or are we not all affected by forces outside of our control necessitating several unforeseen actions on our part in order to find the best way to navigate that situation? So for me, it is not failures that horrify, but it is the unwillingness of a person to try again. I don't want to do business with anybody who is unwilling to fail.

Life itself begins with massive failure: How many sperm missed the egg? But one kept trying and next thing you know, well, there you are, making your way into the world. And it's a sure bet you failed in your attempts to walk, talk, feed yourself, learn to read, and so forth.  That you kept trying is self-evident every time you are seen in public.

Imagine parents posting a picture of every time their little bundle of joy fell in a struggle to become a toddler. And imagine Mom and Dad captioning it with "Remind me again why he thinks he can walk?" 

When did willingness to fail become a disorder?

Mr. Trump is not a stranger to failure. But you know what I like about him? He gives it his all, admits when it doesn't work, figures out what went wrong, picks himself up and, head held high, damn well tries again quite successfully. 

Everybody quotes that famous line from the astronaut movie, "Failure is not an option", as if failure is not an option.

But failure was an option for the guys who had to rescue them -- and they looked failure in the face and said, "Damn you" and a few other choice words, I'm sure. But when those guys were locked in a room with only those items in it that were in the capsule, they failed and they failed again and again as they attempted to put together a rescue solution.

And did they fail their way to a solution? 

Yes, they did. And those astronauts came home.