To increase your success rate, double your failure rate. ~Alex Mandossian

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard the Thomas Edison quote: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Yet, it seems I still benefit from being reminded of that quote far more than I’d prefer. When I heard Mandossian’s quote this week, it once again, hit home.

I think as leaders rise through the ranks in organizations, they believe that their failure rate should decline. After all, they are rising in the organization so that must mean they are getting better at succeeding. However, I think leaders forget that what has likely enabled them to succeed is a long path of failures. Just because you move-up in an organization that doesn’t suddenly cause you to become immune to failure. In fact, we could probably argue that you should be failing more than anyone else, because that will get you [and the organization] to success faster.

John C. Maxwell wrote an entire book on failure entitled Failing Forward. Maxwell said, “The essence of man is imperfection. Know that you’re going to make mistakes. The fellow who never makes a mistake takes his order from one who does. Wake up and realize this: Failure is simply a price we pay to achieve success.”

Vic Johnson, author of the book Dance Until It Rains, begins with the story of a tribe in Africa that confounded all of the anthropologists. It seems that this tribe had for centuries enjoyed a 100% success rate with its rain dance. In comparing this tribe to other tribes who did rain dances, but who didn’t always experience success, the experts couldn’t find anything that differentiated the one tribe. They performed the same rituals, praying the same incantations to the same gods, in the same costumes. Like all the tribes, they sometimes danced for days, even weeks on end. Finally, an astute observer noticed something very telling. The successful tribe did one thing – and only one thing – different than the other tribes who failed. They ALWAYS danced UNTIL it rained!

If you’re holding back because you are fearing failure, then you need to take the Nike approach and “Just do it.” Maxwell provides this advice: “Procrastination is too high a price to pay for fear of failure. To conquer fear, you have to feel the fear and take action anyway. Forget motivation. Just do it. Act your way into feeling, don’t wait for positive emotions to carry you forward.”

I recall hearing Len Schlesinger, former president of Babson College, speak about what differentiates successful entrepreneurs. It all came down to one thing: they take action. That likely means they are failing at a rapid rate. And they just keep going.

We honor many of our early leaders with national holidays. I wish we had a Thomas Edison Day to honor failure. An annual reminder of the positive consequences that can result from doubling your failure rate.

As John C. Maxwell said, “Fail early, fail often, but always fail forward.”