FAIL FORWARD: Failures Pave The Road to Expertise.

The “Fail forward” concept might have caused more harm than benefit because the flashy wrapper never contained candy. Why?

Failure is a universal and normal part of any learning process. Whether learning to walk, speak, drive a car, or master a new skill in your profession, one can only start doing something new after failing many times—failing, reflecting on that, and correcting the behavior. {FEEDBACK}

This fact is evident to anyone older than three years.

Yet another (less evident) fact is that jobs differ. Some jobs partly consist of learning, while others do not.

Many physical algorithmic jobs require learning before a person reaches an expert level, but the actual work does not involve it. For example, a cleaner learns his craft and exploits this knowledge to clean the areas.

Many other jobs involve learning or exploring the environment, and failure is a part of the job.

Entrepreneurs, no matter what area they try, deal with uncertainties daily; the same applies to researchers, engineers, software developers, and many others. They get negative results as an essential part of the work, so they can say, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” {ENDPOINT TIERS}

Why has “Failing Forward” made it to business books and journals?

The first reason is the obsession with success. Modern Western culture is obsessed with success—you must be successful or a loser. The fear of failure intimidates us, and the notion that we can fail and not be considered losers by fellow apes might be liberating.

Another factor is the fear of stating the obvious: many jobs are dull.

Dull jobs are always about tasks and have little uncertainty in the execution—you either do them or not. These jobs often do not bring much money and always have bosses. In addition, these jobs have become less secure in the developed world.

{EXPERT, TRIAL AND ERROR, EXPLORE AND EXPLOIT, LACK OF MOTIVATION, SUCCESS AND FAILURE}