We need a radically different approach to failure. So argues Matthew Syed in his book “Black Box Thinking” as he presents the need to reframe failure as an essential springboard for growth.

Drawing on this book, this article explores concepts we may implement as parents, youth workers, trusted adults and organisational leads to create cultures that not only make the most of failure but encourage and celebrate it.

1. Being Prepared to Be Vulnerable:
Acknowledging failure requires vulnerability, and systems (in the broadest sense – including families, relationships, and organisations) that seek, through subterfuge or ignorance, to gloss over failure are the ones that fail to learn and adapt most effectively. Encouraging a culture of openness in which failures can be acknowledged and explored requires those in positions of power to be able to admit error, demonstrate trying and failing and, where necessary, apologise.

2. Creating a Secure Base/Environment:
Without a sense that love is unconditional and value and worth are inherent, it is impossible to take risks or at least not disintegrate when risks result in failure. This involves creating a culture of psychological safety, where failure is seen as a learning opportunity rather than a cause for blame.

3. Praising Effort and Not Outcome
This may be akin to the notion that “who you are” counts for much more than “what you do”. It often requires practice, effort and applied thinking to adopt such a counter-cultural approach of praising character – hard work, generosity, selflessness – over performance, but it is essential in order to develop rounded and resilient young people and organisations. In a variety of studies, Carol Dweck and her colleagues studied hundreds of 5th grade children, praising one group for their abilities and the other for their efforts. (For more on the work of Carol Dweck read “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success”).

Both groups were challenged with a difficult test designed for 8th grade students. The group who was praised for their effort tried very hard, although they naturally made plenty of mistakes. The group who was praised for intelligence became discouraged when they made mistakes, seeing these errors as a lack of ability and a sign of failure. Overall, intelligence testing for the “effort” group increased by 30%, while it decreased by 20% for the “ability” group, all because of different attitudes about mistakes and failure.

4. Normalising Failure Through Scenario Planning:
Anticipating potential failures through scenario planning is crucial. A favourite technique to help young people develop self-regulation and resilience is that of ‘mental contrasting’. In this technique young people are encouraged to take 4 steps when approaching a goal or task:

1. Set the goal you want to achieve
2. Dream about achieving the goal (what will it feel like, what will you be able to do etc)
3. Identify one or more stumbling blocks to achieving the goal
4. Identify ways to overcome the stumbling blocks if and when they arise

5. Celebrating Failure as an Opportunity to Learn:
It is essential that failure is communicated with those we support as an opportunity not a threat. In fact, going beyond this, it is important that we create opportunities to fail in safe environments in which the ‘failure’ can be reframed and celebrated. This will be key in determining how young people and others respond to perceived failure. In his book Syed references one famous experiment a group of schoolgirls were measured for their IQ and then given a task that began with a really challenging section. You might have expected the girls with the higher IQs to perform better on the test. In fact, the results were the other way around. The high-IQ girls, who had always succeeded in life, were so flustered by the initial struggle that they became “helpless.” They hardly bothered with the later problems on the test. The relationship between IQ and outcome was actually negative.

6. The Importance of Reviewing the Evidence in Failure Situations:
This point is particularly pertinent to organisations and vocational practice but can be applied more generally. Failure can sometimes be hard to quantify, especially if practices are simply assumed to be the right approach. A desire to accept and find failure gives the opportunity to collect and analyse data and develop effective solutions. Syed’s book underscores the power of objective analysis and its potential to transform failures into valuable learning experiences. For example, in Kenya, a group of economists wanted to improve the quality of local schools. They started by recording the grades at different schools, and trying out various things, to see if they improved scores. Their first idea was to deliver free textbooks, on the assumption that this would be the pathway to improved results. However, they soon discovered that schools without this aid performed just as well. They then tried several other approaches that, theoretically at least, would surely make a difference. Nothing changed. Finally, they found a solution that actually helped improve grades: de-worming medicine which improved attendance, attention and thus outcomes. Without the constant reviewing of evidence – and particularly the use of a/b testing using a control group, it would have been easy to perpetuate the handing out of textbooks based on assumed knowledge. Being able to compare outcomes amongst the two groups – and identify that interventions were failing to make a difference – allowed failure to be a springboard to success and grades to be improved.

In summary, failure is not an experience to be avoided or a justification for rebuke, but both an inevitable part of progress and an opportunity to get better. As parents, youth workers and business leaders we must work hard to curate environments that demonstrate, embrace and harness the power of failure. As American author, pastor and speaker John C. Maxwell has said: “Fail early, fail often, but always fail forward”.