The right and wrong ways to fail.

Could you imagine a right way to fail? I wrote a post last month titled, sometimes, failure is the best option. I was thinking a little more about this today. I realized there are quite often two reasons that people fail. Oh sure, you can probably find a lot more reasons, but I believe that you can probably put every reason into these two categories. Reason 1: As I mentioned in my other post (linked above) there are people that try to do something and fail at it. They often will learn from that mistake. Jared points out the following: "Didn't Thomas Edison say the same thing, in other words, to the effect that when trying to develop the light bulb he didn't fail some a thousand-odd times, he learned a thousand ways that didn't work?" Reason 2: People fail for lack of trying. I am amazed at how many times people throw their arms up and simply say, "it can't be done!" Without even trying, these types of people fail before they even start. Of course they are doomed to fail. If you don't think it will work, then of course it won't work... you won't put the effort into making it work. So, why do you fail? Don't tell me you are a success without some failure in your life? I became proficient at graphic design because I was laid off from a job. I build nice furniture for my house (my hobby is carpentry) because I have built some significantly awful furniture. I understand technology because I have failed so many times at understanding it. One point to consider, if you fail because you try, but then never try again, does that mean you begin to fail because you throw your arms up saying, "it can't be done?" Don't throw your arms up saying, "it can't be done," until you have actually taken the time to understand what is being asked of you. You are only limited by your imagination. Remember, the answer is always no if you don't ask... something will never be done if you don't try.

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Corey Smith is the Vice President of Innovation at Fisher’s Document Systems where he maintains a blog on business and technology.