Fail Fast Mantra Debunked

In fact, "Fail Fast, Fail Often" is Silicon's Valley most striking mantra. They are recited on conferences, posters on the walls. Failure in Silicon Valley is not only invoked but also celebrated with entrepreneurs giving speeches detailing their failures and becoming a star.

We see many, Millenials, keep repeating the quotes "Fail fast, fail often, failure is an opportunity", and I think it is foolish.

This is a classic, misunderstood quote by founders and entrepreneurs. The Goal is NOT to fail but to learn quickly to tackle the most dangerous points of failure. It's about work and not celebration.

I am not alone, a newly published research by business professors Danneels and Vestal. They set out to debunk the myth that many failures will eventually lead to the holy grail of business success.

many failures will eventually lead to the holy grail of business success.

The study's result was that the "pick yourself up and try again" approach is insufficient. There is no statistically significant relationship between high tolerance for failure and product excellence. You just keep on randomly poking in the dark.

Francis Greene, a professor at Edinburgh University Business School in Scotland, wrote after his research failure doesn't help entrepreneurs in their next venture.

When entrepreneurs do not fully understand the mantra, the results can have the opposite effect. If we only live on these simplified quotes, such as "fail fast, fail often", we can create irreparable damage.

In fact, "Fail Fast, Fail Often" is Silicon's Valley most striking mantra. They are recited on conferences, posters on the walls. Failure in Silicon Valley is not only invoked but also celebrated with entrepreneurs giving speeches detailing their failures and becoming a star.

We see many, Millenials, keep repeating the quotes "Fail fast, fail often, failure is an opportunity", and I think it is foolish.

This is a classic, misunderstood quote by founders and entrepreneurs. The Goal is NOT to fail but to learn quickly to tackle the most dangerous points of failure. It's about work and not celebration.

I am not alone, a newly published research by business professors Danneels and Vestal. They set out to debunk the myth that many failures will eventually lead to the holy grail of business success.

many failures will eventually lead to the holy grail of business success.

The study's result was that the "pick yourself up and try again" approach is insufficient. There is no statistically significant relationship between high tolerance for failure and product excellence. You just keep on randomly poking in the dark.

Francis Greene, a professor at Edinburgh University Business School in Scotland, wrote after his research failure doesn't help entrepreneurs in their next venture.

When entrepreneurs do not fully understand the mantra, the results can have the opposite effect. If we only live on these simplified quotes, such as "fail fast, fail often", we can create irreparable damage.

How come it stays conventional wisdom?

When academics based on research conclude that the "Fail Fast, Fail Often" mantra is wrong or at least misunderstood. How come it stays conventional wisdom?

When you support the ideas of "Fail Fast, Fail Often", you create a toxic culture of people aiming for the short term. Staff will race to complete one objective (failing) while running to the next goal as fast as possible (failing quicker).
A better way is to iterate between the objectives intelligently.

As stated before, the "Fail Fast, Fail Often" idea originated from the startup-scene in Silicon valley: It means: "To Iterate". To succeed, we have to be open to failure, 100% agree with that. The original idea was to learn from our mistakes, tweak, redo if needed. But not the worst case. To go down.

When I talk to startups who are hailing the "Fail Fast, Fail Often" mantra, they focus on speed. It's ok to fail, we reset and go again, and again, and again. And often they link it with Elon Musk, Space X etc.
Even before Elon Musk, the story goes that Thomas Edison failed 9.000 times before he invented the light bulb.

The difference between the failing startups and the successes of Elon Musk or Thomas Edison is that the latest two are not pushed by speed.
Their successes are based on creative and critical thinking.
Bot men used iterative methods to implement the results of their creative thinking and critical thinking, and this is precisely what the "Fail Fast, Fail Often" mantra is about.

Great innovations have nothing to do with failing fast, often or any other way. To the contrary, they have to do with experimentation towards a higher goal.

Going back to our two academics, Danneels and Vestal, they are naming a solution "a culture of failure analysis".
Businesses that create a habit of detailed debriefs of unsuccessful projects are significantly more likely to roll out products that are superior to their competitors.

Stop the madness of buzzword bingo. It's becoming dangerous. Let's focus on creative & critical thinking.

Let me know what you think when you hear entrepreneurs using the "Fail Fast" mantra.

Danneels, E. and Vestal, A., 2018. Normalizing vs analyzing: Drawing the lesson from failure to enhance firm innovativeness. Journal of Business venturing

How come it stays conventional wisdom?

When academics based on research conclude that the "Fail Fast, Fail Often" mantra is wrong or at least misunderstood. How come it stays conventional wisdom?

When you support the ideas of "Fail Fast, Fail Often", you create a toxic culture of people aiming for the short term. Staff will race to complete one objective (failing) while running to the next goal as fast as possible (failing quicker).
A better way is to iterate between the objectives intelligently.

As stated before, the "Fail Fast, Fail Often" idea originated from the startup-scene in Silicon valley: It means: "To Iterate". To succeed, we have to be open to failure, 100% agree with that. The original idea was to learn from our mistakes, tweak, redo if needed. But not the worst case. To go down.

When I talk to startups who are hailing the "Fail Fast, Fail Often" mantra, they focus on speed. It's ok to fail, we reset and go again, and again, and again. And often they link it with Elon Musk, Space X etc.
Even before Elon Musk, the story goes that Thomas Edison failed 9.000 times before he invented the light bulb.

The difference between the failing startups and the successes of Elon Musk or Thomas Edison is that the latest two are not pushed by speed.
Their successes are based on creative and critical thinking.
Bot men used iterative methods to implement the results of their creative thinking and critical thinking, and this is precisely what the "Fail Fast, Fail Often" mantra is about.

Great innovations have nothing to do with failing fast, often or any other way. To the contrary, they have to do with experimentation towards a higher goal.

Going back to our two academics, Danneels and Vestal, they are naming a solution "a culture of failure analysis".
Businesses that create a habit of detailed debriefs of unsuccessful projects are significantly more likely to roll out products that are superior to their competitors.

Stop the madness of buzzword bingo. It's becoming dangerous. Let's focus on creative & critical thinking.

Let me know what you think when you hear entrepreneurs using the "Fail Fast" mantra.

Danneels, E. and Vestal, A., 2018. Normalizing vs analyzing: Drawing the lesson from failure to enhance firm innovativeness. Journal of Business venturing