Failure

A brand is an intangible attributes of a product, arisen out of gut feeling and perception of the customers. With globalization brands have travelled across geographies and explored new markets building returns for it. Global products have sometimes tended to retain their characteristics in new market and country leading to failure of the brands. Standardized products in a new market have failed leading to re-think on the market entry strategy.

Although the advantages of standard products have been empathized in new market, the disadvantages of improper target market and no distinctive image of products to consumers have led to failure of global brands in new markets. Inability to localize and adapt the global product to local tastes and preferences has led to failure of many great brands. The aim of the paper is to analyze and understand failed marketing approaches to various brands with examples. The paper also discusses on the reasons for failed marketing approaches and explains examples to understand the marketing strategies adopted.

Reasons for failed marketing approaches Insufficient Market Research – This situation arises due to the complacent attitude of the companies entering into the new market. The improper estimation of demand and market dynamics and lack of coordination to launch the product leads to such situation. Pepsi AM was launched in the late 1980’s without significant market research and proper sampling. The demand for such product with twice caffeine and sugar content made the product an instant failure. Pre-assumed market size and product viability made the product out of place and it failed miserably.

Similar case was attributed to Clariol’s “Touch of Yogurt” shampoo was another failure which not only failed to understand the market but also led to complete failure of the product. Over standardization – Sometimes, companies overlook local preferences of the products and launch. The product is introduced into the market in a standard manner and preferences. Product positioning and market-segmentation are major challenges in case of over-standardization. Euro-Disney, launched by Disneyland is considered failure due to inability of the product to add value to the customers.

Consistency in the brand environment and brand policies of the company led to the failure of the brand in a new market. Narrow vision- The companies tend to adopt myopic sight of the market and hence loose customers to a failed product. No proper channelization of information between the subsidiaries and communication gap created results in loss of business. “Thirsty Cats and Thirsty Dogs” was launched a product to quench the thirst of pets. Although the product was launched in different flavors, improper communication strategy in between the channel and the company led to the failure of the product.

Ponds with me-too strategy entered the market with toothpaste which was a Colgate look alike. This further marred the market for company and led to product failure as channels and subsidiaries were not in a position to place the product in the minds of the consumers. Rigid implementation- Companies sometimes allow standard marketing programs for all the market which further reduce the chance of product success. Local preferences are not evaluated by the companies which lead to the failure of the brand.

Unilever’s product Radion was launched in the market with unclear perception in the minds of the consumers. The soap acted as a complement of Pears in vibrant colors but lack of local preferences led to the failure of the product in the UK market. Poor Follow up- Products have failed in the recent past due to improper follow up for the products after launch and companies not being able to sell the product. General foods launched Maxwell House ready to drink coffee which failed due to the poor follow up in between the channel and the company.

The companies positioning of the product did not match with the channel’s communication to the consumers and the product failed due to lack of coordination. Conclusions The transition of a product to brand status is a journey which takes time to materialize. The same is being questioned off and on when global companies fail to understand the local preferences. Complacency is one of the factors which affect the market and big brands fail in regional markets. Local competition provides a serious threat to the brands and this leads to failure of the brands.

Standard products suffer in new markets due to lack of proper coordination between channels and consumers. Companies fail to understand consumer’s preferences and eventually products die in the market.

References

1. VanAuken, Brad and Daye, Derrick. The Impact of Culture on Branding: Brand Aid, American Management Association, 2003
2. Kotler Philip and Keller Kevin, “Principles of Marketing” 12th Ed. Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2005
3. Gelder, Sicco. “Global Brand Strategy” Unlocking brand potential across, countries, culture, market Kogan Page, London, 2003

Life is an experience that comes along with failure. Have you ever had the feeling like you haven’t done your best at something or the feeling that you’re disappointing the people you care about most? Well Eve had that feeling multiple times especially in middle school. In middle school Eve experience lots of failure; failure with friendships, relationships, and rejection. Failure to me is being unhappy with yourself and not doing what you believe in.

My 8th grade year in middle school was a earning experience that came along with lots of failure. The beginning of 8th grade was the easiest part of middle school because there was no drama and less friends. As time went by I gained more friends and more pressure was put on my shoulders. I learned a lot about friendships and the meaning of them. Losing the friends that meant the most to me is one of my failures and something that was challenging. Friendships from the past have a huge impact on the friendships that Eve made today.

In middle school I was always open to meeting new people and starting new reined friendships with anyone but now I realize that I can’t do that without getting to know the person first. During my years in high school Eve been more selective with how I choose my friends. Eve learned that in order to trust someone in full and to consider them a good friend, I would have to get to know that person first. Throughout my high school experience Eve gained many friends and learned to trust them. Whenever I had a problem, I would turn to them for advice. Their advice always helped me through my problems and anything else I needed.

Throughout my experience in high school and middle school, Eve learned a lot about friendship and values. Eve been making better decisions for myself and how I have been choosing my friends. How I chose my friends will help me in college because Eve had experience with good friends and bad friends. My experience with friends at school is teaching me so much about life. Middle school and high school has helped me with better decision making when choosing friends. I will use this decision making in college to help me build new friendships.

The Failure of Gatsby’s American Dream In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is portrayed as being an admirable, wealthy, kind, and genuinely impressive man. However, that being said, he is also portrayed as pretentious, deceptive, criminal, and most importantly to the plot, completely insatiable. Even though the novel’s narrator, Nick Carraway, heavily sympathizes with Gatsby, he has many character flaws that ultimately assure the failure of his “dream”, and even lead to his untimely demise.

The first bit from the novel that demonstrates Gatsby’s inability to be content, is the fact that he is not Jay Gatsby. It is learned about halfway through the novel that Jay Gatsby from California is actually a man names James Gatz, who comes from Chicago. The fact that Gatsby fabricated his past and lives his life under an alias shows that he is unable to be content even with his own origins. To go through the trouble of making up an entire past for himself rather than simply revealing the truth shows that either he was too ashamed to tell of his family for his financial background, or as is more likely, he found it to be boring.

By very nature, Gatsby craves excitement and adventure. In order to make himself seem more exciting and adventurous, he became Jay Gatsby. After examining that, it’s best to look at Gatsby’s chosen vocation. Although Gatsby claims to have his money from being born of a wealthy family from the West, he is later revealed to have earned his money from the illegal business of manufacturing and selling bootlegged liquor. Seeing Gatsby use criminal means to achieve wealth and the “American Dream” demonstrates how desperately he wants to be taken seriously.

Using his fake persona and fool-proof criminal processes to get wealth and social status means to him that most certainly, he could not be looked down upon or judged for being born of a lower class family and not having any of his own wealth to speak of. Working in the criminal underground also means, however, that he would make very few social connections, and have few true friends, bringing me to my next point. Gatsby desperately longs for personal relationships.

This is apparent in everything from the way he desperately clings to his love of Daisy to his willingness to allow Ewing Kilspringer, whom Gatsby barely knows, to sponge off him and virtually live at his mansion. Since the adventure and excitement of his fake persona and his criminal lifestyle are not enough to satisfy Gatsby, he figures that the only way to obtain true happiness would be through interactions with people, who can be around him and always admire his accomplishments and somehow complete him.

However, Gatsby is unable to make social connections because of his own social awkwardness, which as becomes more and more apparent, he compensates for with his wealth and possessions. The best example of this is Gatsby’s parties, in which the guests all have an excellent time, and know of Gatsby, but know almost nothing about him, even to the point where nobody seems to know where he even came from. Gatsby’s awkwardness and fear of real people causes him to close himself off even at his own parties, and hope that somehow the good time people have will make them admire him more (which, oddly, seems to work).

The desire for intimate personal relationships becomes Gatsby’s own version of “The American Dream” which manifests itself most strongly in his “love” for Daisy Buchanan. Daisy and Gatsby were briefly lovers before Gatsby was sent off to the First World War. Having been the last person who Gatsby felt any true emotions toward, Daisy becomes the object of his desire, affections, and now, his energy and will to achieve. Gatsby’s dream however is crushed by the realization that Daisy is not the ideal person who he thinks she is.

Since Gatsby is a lover of fantasy and exaggeration, he holds all people to an impossible standard of how he thinks people should be, even himself. The real Daisy is almost too shallow to really love, as is most evidenced by the way she is so emotionally moved by some silk shirts that Gatsby has, calling them the most beautiful things she has ever seen. Despite the fact that Daisy is not who Gatsby wants her to be, he clings to her, either realizing his impossible standard, or so far into his delusion that he is unable to see her as anything but ideal despite her major character flaws.

Beginning an affair, the two plot to stand up to Daisy’s abusive husband Tom, and run away together. When the plan finally has the chance to come to fruition, however, Daisy is unable to tell Tom that she does not love him. The reason for this is not because Gatsby is undeserving, but because he is so insatiable, and unstoppably ambitious to the point that he doesn’t know what he truly wants, that he is unable to actually achieve anything that might make a true difference in his life. Tom on the other hand, while rude and pushy and genuinely unkind, knows exactly hat he wants and has no problems in simply taking it. After a car crash kills Tom’s lover, Myrtle, Gatsby attempts one more act of gallantry in order to prove his worth and determination. He takes the blame for Myrtle’s death in an attempt to save Daisy, who was really to blame. As Gatsby stops to finally take in all that he has accomplished, and finally appreciate what he has (symbolized by him finally using his pool) he is murdered by George Wilson, Myrtle’s husband who then takes his own life.

Oddly enough, after Wilson’s murder/suicide, the reader is then struck by the striking similarities between Wilson and Gatsby. They both tired of being taken advantage of, they both loved a woman who was not real, and they both longed for true companionship. The only difference is that one of them was able to achieve greatly on a more worldly level, which despite his large personal shortcomings, made him into that person of his own creation that he had so desperately wanted to be: The Great Gatsby.

Entrepreneurs are energizers who take risks, provide jobs, introduce innovations, and spa rk economic growth. .. Let’s first put aside what they have done. We just examine what they really are? What the characteristics of this breed of people? What makes them being so distinctive? That’s not surprising. First most of the entrepreneurs are actually inspired by certain profit return. Therefore other entrepreneurs also expect a return that will not only compensate them for the time and money they invest but also reward them well for the risks and initiative their own businesses.

With such typical mind-set, they want to do everything the best and gain respect. That’s explains why most of them have done well in providing levels of service and quality that exceed those of others. They even have to compete with themselves. As long as they take failure as a process of learning experience and believe that success or failure lies within their personal control or influence, there will be nothing fearful. This leads to the next distinctive strengthen of the entrepreneurs. In fact, independence is one of the most important incentives for entrepreneurs.

They believe in themselves and want to make their own decisions, set their own schedules and reap their own profits. They want to be their own bosses. Taking risks can be small first steps, like placing your first advertisement in a mail-order publication. It is different from gambling. They just take the moderate risks, which mean that they prefer risky situations in which they can exert some control over the outcome. They are always thinking of new ideas and new ways to make money or increase their business. They are not afraid to put these ideas to use.

So ages or certain education is not a must for being an entrepreneur. In general, entrepreneurs are people who have high energy, feel self-confident, and set long-term goals, and view money and financial security as a measure of accomplishment and piece of mind. They persist in problem solving, take risks, learn from failures (their own and from others), take the initiative, accept personal responsibility and use all available resources to achieve their success. The characteristics that list above are just the basic inhabited entrepreneur. There are still other demands when face with actual problems.

An entrepreneur will constantly face a great deal of ambiguity or uncertainty. Structure and fixed schedules are impossible for becoming an entrepreneur. They have to assume series of risk that might happen. E. g. the frustrations of reaching a satisfactory profit level; the possibility of business failure; they might also risk their careers, finance and families. They must have the tolerance for risking everything they have to an ambiguity future. It is not necessarily to be a tremendously creative person to be an entrepreneur. However, you do need open-mindedness.

Here open-minded not only means to be open to new ideas but also means to be prepared for certain failure and mistakes. Being closed-minded, one will have a difficult time identifying market need and discovering how to market your business. The early entrepreneur is normally alone. One must know how to both advocate your ideas and be skeptical of them, revising them when necessary. You will have no boss to point out your mistakes, and if you think you aren’t making any, you will quickly discover otherwise. Alternatively, if you are mired in self-doubt, you will not accomplish anything and will not motivate other people to follow you.

Failure is a given in the world of entrepreneurship, but it’s how leaders respond to failure that dictates their future success. The specter of losing a business you’ve worked so hard on is a difficult pill to swallow, yet if you recognize and approach your failure honestly, you will be well-positioned to leverage your experience for future innovation.

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Here are some tips to consider:

Failure is the beginning of your next venture rather than the end of your last.

Moving on from something you’ve lost can be intensely difficult, whether you’re talking about a personal relationship or a business venture. When it comes to entrepreneurial concerns, it’s easy to see how business owners can get mired in the past following a failure and become consumed about “what might have been.”

When a business has to shutter, it’s clear that something wasn’t working. Rather than injecting additional resources, look at the closing as an opportunity to create something new and valuable. It may help you to on your previous business and focus your energy on the options available to you for the future.

Be honest with yourself and your partners.

One of the surest ways for failure to plague entrepreneurs and inhibit them from moving forward is when they refuse to admit the truth to themselves and others involved. Lying to yourself about the state of your project doesn’t do anyone any favors and prevents you from recognizing that things need to change.

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All of us want to use failure as an opportunity to learn something from our mistakes, but the learning can’t begin until you’ve actively admitted what the mistakes were. When entrepreneurs are able to quickly face the facts about their situation, they’re more likely to fail quickly and get back onto the path to developing their next great idea.

Practice ‘persistent curiosity.’

Curiosity has long been considered one of the defining traits of entrepreneurial-minded people. By its nature, the act of creating a new business requires asking serious questions about how problems can be solved more efficiently and creatively. And when you’re standing at a crossroads following a failed venture, you need to rely on your curiosity more than ever.

The wonderful thing about curiosity is that it doesn’t assume any answers, which is exactly what you need when you’re attempting to rebound from an unsuccessful project. Keep asking questions and let the evidence guide you to fuel innovation and learn from your mistakes.

Use failure as an opportunity for detailed analysis.

For curiosity to be used effectively, it needs to be harnessed properly, and one of the best outlets for this is data analysis. Data is one of the most important byproducts of a failed venture, and savvy entrepreneurs will use results from their past initiatives to inform their future forecasts.

When strategically planning your goals and choosing your metrics for your forthcoming business, incorporate your results from your previous venture as a way to benchmark your future success.

Rely on your support system in good times and hard times.

When people experience loss in their personal lives, their first inclination is usually to reach out to their loved ones for support. It’s the reason why we visit each other when one of us gets sick, and attend funerals for those who have passed. Why, then, do so many entrepreneurs turn inward following the failure of their business?

The most likely reason is that they’re afraid of being judged by their peers, a habit that needs to be dropped in order to achieve long-term success. Maintaining a robust, open network is critical to career success.

Don’t just use the power of your network when things are going well; as you build the foundation of your next phase.

Embrace a ‘stepping-stone’ philosophy on your route to innovation.

Arianna Huffington has said she  that failure is a stepping stone on the path to success, and that that was a lesson that helped lead her to build a media empire — after she experienced the low point of her book’s rejection by dozens of publishers.

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As Huffington found, it’s worth remembering for all aspects of life, but especially in the context of entrepreneurship: You are not defined by any single thing, including the failure of a venture. Rather, your career is a collection of stepping stones that will ultimately lead you to something valuable and lasting.

Hyperthyroidism has been known to do a assortment of cardiovascular manifestations. In recent times, there have been studies of secondary pneumonic high blood pressure in patients with thyrotoxicosis, though in most instances this association lead merely to a mild and transeunt lift of average pneumonic arteria force per unit area. This was normally a opportunity happening with bulk non being diagnostic. We hereby show a instance, who on presentation had the marks and symptoms of right bosom failure and was later diagnosed with pneumonic high blood pressure. With all common secondary causes ruled out, Graves ‘ disease seemed the possible etiology in this patient with elevated thyroid map trial. Treatment of Graves ‘ disease with radioiodine therapy in this patient was associated with important autumn in average pneumonic arteria force per unit area.

Keywords: Pneumonic high blood pressure, Grave ‘s disease, thyrotoxicosis.

Introduction:

Our instance of a immature female with a anterior history of arthritic bosom disease and mitral regurgitation, presented with grounds of right bosom failure. She was found to hold important pneumonic high blood pressure ( PAH ) with normal left ventricular map which pointed towards an etiology of PAH in the lungs. All the common possible secondary causes of PAH were ruled out but during the probes she was found to hold elevated thyroid map trials compatible with the diagnosing of Graves ‘ disease. The intervention of Graves ‘ disease, ab initio by medicines and later by radioiodine therapy, was associated with a important decrease in the pneumonic arteria systolic force per unit area. The intent of this instance study is to foreground one of the unusual and under-diagnosed presentations of Grave ‘s disease. The association between PAH and thyrotoxicosis was foremost reported in an necropsy instance in 1980. [ 4 ]

Case Presentation:

A 30yr old Hindu married female, occupant of Mumbai, presented with a 2-month history of dyspnoea on effort ( NYHA Class II ) which had worsened to dyspnea at remainder since 2 yearss and pedal hydrops for 2 yearss. She besides had orthopnea, paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnoea and palpitations. Her past and household histories were non-contributory.

At presentation, she had mild tachycardia ( bosom rate= 108/min ) , normal blood force per unit area ( 120/70mm of Hg ) , raised JVP ( 8cms. ) , pedal hydrops and a thyroid puffiness. Examination of the thorax revealed hyperdynamic vertex round tangible at 5th intercostal infinite, a diastolic daze, and a left parasternal heaving. On auscultation, she had a loud P2 and a grade 3/6 pan-systolic mutter in the mitral country radiating to the armpit, which increased on termination. She besides had bilateral crackles on lung Fieldss.

Her chest X ray revealed megalocardia and outstanding proximal pneumonic arteria. ECG showed right axis divergence, ‘P pulmonale ‘ , and an grounds of right ventricular hypertrophy. Consequences of 2D ECHO included grounds of arthritic bosom disease with mild mitral and tricuspid regurgitation, terrible pneumonic arteria high blood pressure with systolic force per unit area of 70 millimeter of HgH

, normal biventricular map and a left ventricular expulsion fraction of 60 % . She underwent work-up for pneumonic high blood pressure with high declaration computed imaging of thorax which showed mild megalocardias without any grounds of parenchymal engagement and a bulky thyroid. Computed tomographic pneumonic angiography showed no grounds of pneumonic thromboembolism. Ultrasonography of the thyroid showed bulky thyroid with increased vascularity and altered echotexture. Radioiodine uptake scan showed diffuse consumption in thyroid secretory organ.

Relevant research lab consequences included serum T3 concentration of 450.93 ng/dL ( normal 70-204 ng/dL ) , T4 concentration of 40.6 ?g/dL ( normal 3.2-12.6 ?g/dL ) and TSH concentration of & A ; lt ; 0.01µIU/mL. HIV screen was non-reactive. Auto-antibody screen revealed positive anti-microsomal and anti-thyroglobulin antibodies and decrepit positive anti-nuclear antibody ( 1:100 )

Patient was ab initio started on Lasix with minimum benefit. After the diagnosing of Graves ‘ disease was made, she was started on beta-blockers and carbimazole. Patient was later sent to TATA infirmary for radioiodine therapy. A follow-up after 2 months with repetition 2 D Echocardiography showed pneumonic arteria systolic force per unit area of 45 millimeter of Hg ( important lessening from the old value ) .

Discussion:

Pneumonic arterial high blood pressure ( PAH ) is defined as a average pneumonic arteria force per unit area ( mPAP ) of & A ; gt ; 25 millimeter Hg at remainder or & A ; gt ; 30 millimeter Hg after exercising. [ 1 ] The etiology is divided into primary or secondary causes. Secondary causes of PAH include cardiac valvular disease, COPD, pneumonic fibrosis, left bosom failure, clogging slumber apnea, pneumonic thrombo-embolism, HIV infection, drugs, toxins and collagen vascular diseases. [ 3 ] Primary pneumonic high blood pressure is associated with a bad result, hence, it is necessary to seek for secondary, reversible causes of pneumonic high blood pressure before doing any diagnosing. [ 3 ]

Haran and co-workers [ 2 ] reported a instance of a 33-year-old Asiatic adult male with 2 months of diagnostic Graves ‘ disease, echocardiographic grounds of elevated right ventricular systolic force per unit area and normal cardiac valves. This patient was treated with medicines only- Inderal, propylthiouracil, steroids, and Procardia and repetition echocardiography 6 months subsequently showed important autumn in right ventricular systolic force per unit area.

Suk JH and co-workers [ 5 ] performed consecutive echocardiographic scrutinies in 64 untreated patients with Graves ‘ disease. The survey found that the prevalence of PAH amongst the patients in the survey was 44 % . Follow up echocardiography performed in the patients with PAH after intervention with anti-thyroid drugs, revealed that PAH had vanished in all except one patient.

Marvisi M and co-workers [ 9 ] studied 114 patients with thyrotoxicosis of which 47 had Graves ‘ disease and 67 had nodular goitre alongwith a matched control group. Mild pneumonic high blood pressure was found in 50 instances from the patient group which was once more divided into 2 subgroups: those treated with methimazole and those with partial thyroidectomy. After a 120 twenty-four hours followup, the survey concluded that the association between thyrotoxicosis and mild and transient PAH is frequent and that methimazole causes a faster autumn in mPAP compared to partial thyroidectomy.

Though the exact pathogenesis of this status is non known, the mechanisms that have been debated in literature include: increased pneumonic blood flow [ 5 ] or autoimmune procedure associated with endothelial harm [ 8 ] . Other possible accounts include increased cardiac end product in thyrotoxicosis or increased dislocation of intrinsic pneumonic vasodilatives [ 6 ] .

Decision:

In patients with pneumonic high blood pressure non related to left bosom disease, a hunt must be made for other reversible causes before doing the diagnosing of primary pneumonic high blood pressure. [ 3 ]

Hyperthyroidism is rather often associated with mild and transient pneumonic high blood pressure than antecedently thought and is normally reversible with intervention. [ 5,9 ]

In rare fortunes, pneumonic high blood pressure secondary to hyperthyroidism can be terrible plenty to show with right bosom failure and should be included in the differential diagnosing when other common causes have been ruled out. [ 7 ]

Using medicines for intervention of thyrotoxicosis with PAH is associated with faster autumn in mPAP. [ 9 ]

I was going through some old papers today, as my office was looking more and more like Bourbon Street the day after. I decided to give it the old 5S (a Lean Manufacturing reference, the details of which I will spare you) and took everything out. Then every item had to earn its way back in. Try to imagine going through hundreds of scraps of papers — notes from meetings with clients I no longer worked with, story ideas, fully written stories (in cursive, after all, only barbarians and social deviants write in print) and the occasional obscene doodle. In the course of this Herculean endeavor (the job really did have an Augean Stables look, feel and smell about it), I happened across a quote from David Geffen, “When we don’t provide people the opportunity to fail, we don’t provide them much of an opportunity to succeed either.”

This got me thinking, admittedly a dangerous and terrible state; how many of us have simply given up on an entrepreneurial enterprise because the first attempt failed? Now, I am not going to lecture you on the dangers of quitting. After all, I divorced my ex-wife (rest her soul) when my daughter was around 18 months old; but in my defense we might observe how that necessitated I steadfastly share custody with a shrew of a woman (rest her soul) for years thereafter. So there’s that.

The dangers of quitting.

No, it was to our daughter, years later, that I found myself addressing the topic of quitting, at the dramatically splenetic behest of former wife (rest her soul). It seemed that my daughter (parental ownership having shifted entirely to me due to the child’s infraction, real or imagined) had joined  (at six years old? Why?), then decided she didn’t like it. So she quit. My ex-wife (rest her soul) was unhappy with what she saw as a pattern of behavior: my daughter had quit other activities as well, apparently.

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I listened intently and finally told my daughter, “Honey, you come from a long line of quitters. I joined Little League and quit after the first practice (an older kid had made fun of my glove). I joined football (not knowing that the team started pre-conditioning at 5 a.m. two weeks before school officially started, followed by practices after school, as well. To hell with concussions, the real danger in high school football is teaching kids that this kind of behavior is normal.) and quit before the first day. I was a founding member of my high school’s fencing team but quit before the first meeting. Soccer, lacrosse, the chess club? Quit, quit and, well, we didn’t have one, but if we had, I’d have enthusiastically joined and just as enthusiastically quit.” My ex-wife (rest her soul) said, “That’s not what I had in mind,” and stormed off in the kind of huff that I once inexplicably found charming.

The joys of trying.

The point is, my daughter tried. My ex-wife (rest her soul) and I could have told her we didn’t think she was ready for cheerleading, but we let her try it, and she quit. In that same spirit of exploration, our daughter went on to try softball and basketball at which she excelled. (Parental ownership now being shared again due to her success.)

I understand that I am using the words “quit” and “fail” interchangeably, but realistically how often do we quit an enterprise because we are successful at it? “Wow, things are going great I better quit!” said nobody, ever.

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Whether we are entrepreneurs or faceless cogs in corporate hell, we have to embrace not only our own failures but also those of others. To fail is forgivable: To fail and learn nothing from it is not. Failure lies at the heart of learning, and learning lies at the heart of success. Corporate speak for failure is now “teachable moment,” a term so passive-aggressive that it makes me want to use the back of my hand as a teachability instrument. But failures are an opportunity to coach people on how they might succeed on their next attempt.

The wages of failure.

There’s a (probably apocryphal) tale of an executive who decided to change the formula for Coca Cola. It was a colossal mistake: Dimly lit bulbs across the country hoarded original formula Coke in their survivalist bunkers, sales of the new stuff plummeted and the executive was fired. The executive fell into a kind of funk studying, nigh obsessing, on the mistake he had made. He studied every nuance of what led him down this path of failure until he became an expert in knowing why he made this mistake.

He went on the speaking circuit explaining the mistake-making process and became a notable success. One day, a large soft drink company offered him an executive position; it was Coca Cola. The board was so impressed with his dogged pursuit to find out why he failed that they reasoned he was the sort of man who might make mistakes but would move Heaven and Earth to learn from them.

Related Book: Fueled by Failure by Jeremy Bloom | | |

The wisdom of others.

Unless we make mistakes (rest her soul), we never gain that visceral understanding of the depth and breadth of lesson the mistake holds. I can tell you not to touch a hot stove, but until you’ve done it you really only have an approximation of why you shouldn’t. After, you know. In life, I can tell you that it is a mistake to open a restaurant next door to a fat rendering plant, and you probably can see the logic in that, but you won’t really understand the depth of consequence of that bad decision until you make it yourself. 

Of course it’s wise to listen to experts in matters of great risk or irrevocable consequence, but I’ve found that fear of failure drives too many of us in our day-to-day decisions. And it shouldn’t. I routinely approach women who are light-years out of my league and have predictably little success (it may have something to do with some of them reading my work). But I have always believed that A.) no woman is out of my league, and B.) it’s better to strike out than to never have an at-bat.

The renunciation of fear.

I hate sports analogies, having participated in so many sports, albeit briefly, but I think this one apropos. No one has ever gotten on base without stepping up to the plate and risking striking out or worse yet getting beaned with a fastball. In other words, get in there, fail; or, as the late Lou Reed would have you do, “Take a Walk on the Wild Side.” Don’t emulate too many of the characters in his song, however, or I fear it will end with you making mistakes the lessons of which can only be learned with the professional help of a therapist, using dolls.

As long as you know why you’ve failed and understand how to prevent similar failures going forward, you can never truly regret any failure. As long as you persevere and press forward with another attempt, it isn’t really a failure. Now, if you will excuse me, there is a beautiful woman out there somewhere that I need to find, ask out and be turned down by, a stricken look of nausea and repulsion upon her face.