"Only those who [do] nothing

[make] no mistakes."
— David McCullough
Failure is one of the most
dreaded words in the
English Language.
Success,
Success on the other hand,
is nearly a magical idea for
most people.
"The only man who makes
no mistake is the man who
does nothing."
- Theodore Roosevelt
• (age 10) “You will never amount
to much,” schoolmaster.
too stupid to learn anything, teacher.
• Sold only 400 bottles its first year in business
“ Many people dream of success.
To me success can only be achieved
through repeated failure and introspection.
Success is the 1% that results from the 99% we
call failure.”

---Soichiro Honda
 Old Definition

A negative, fatal, and final

result indicating:
•An inability to perform and
a lack of success.
• A falling short because of
ineptness, deficiency, or
negligence.
•A bad, bad thing that should be
avoided, mourned, and punished.
Failure is the foundation of
success, and the means by
which it is achieved.
---Lao Tzu

A failure should NOT be viewed

as the end of the story but
instead as a stepping-stone to a
larger success.
 FAILURE
New Definition

A short-term unexpected
result that reflects a challenge
in progress and that provides:
•A stepping stone to success.
•An opportunity for learning and
development.
• An opportunity for creative
change and innovation.
“ Once you embrace unpleasant news
not as negative but as evidence of a
need for change, you aren’t defeated
by it. You’re learning from it.”
---Bill Gates
Microsoft’s Product Failures Provided Key
Learning for Many of its Biggest Successes
•Years working on a failed database called
“Omega” resulted in the development of
“Microsoft Access”.
• Millions of dollars and countless hours spent on
a failed joint operating system project with IBM
led to the “Windows NT” operating system.
•A failed multiplan spreadsheet that made little
headway against “Lotus 1-2-3” provided key
learning for “Microsoft Exel”.
 SUCCESS
Old Definition

A revered shrine of
achievement. An all-positive
final result indicating:
•Superior ability that requires no
further learning or change.
• Performance that is devoid of
flaws, weakness, or failure.
• A good, good thing that should be
sought, celebrated, and honored
above all else.
 SUCCESS
New Definition

A way of living founded on

benefiting from all life has to
offer that is:
•A long-term sequence of life-
improving results.
• An outcome of short-term
setbacks and failures.
• A process of continual
development, learning, and
fulfillment in life.
“I have missed more than 9,000
shots, lost almost 300 games, on
26 occasions been entrusted to
take the game-winning shot …
and missed. I have failed over and
over again in my life. And that is
why I succeed.”
--Michael Jordan
• Failure is a natural part of everyday life.
• Failure, at its best, is a stepping stone to success, a
challenge in progress, and the lifeblood of a
successful life.
• Failure offers the gift of learning, the means to
become stronger and grow as persons, the possibility
for change and innovation, and the chance to see
whole new opportunities.
• Failure can provide us with the foundation for long-
term success if we learn to redefine it, to use it to win
through losing, and to cope and collaborate with it.
• We can truly live successful lives when we dare to
harness The Power of Failure.
Sven Goran Eriksson