How Should We Deal with Failure?

A little while ago, I heard popular Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson talking about failure on his radio show. Tyson cited NASA as a great example of how to treat failures: as pathways to future success.

Really, I couldn't agree with him more.

Failure is a natural part of life. It's how we learn. Often it's how we learn never to do a certain thing again (hot stove tops anyone?)

I should note that certain failures will rule the rest of your life. Specifically, if you murder someone. However, I think most people are smart enough to avoid making those decisions. I hope.

But it seems like we teach children to fear any type of failure deeply. If you fail at this certain thing, you fail at life. Forever. I have to say that this is hardly realistic. If you look at some of the most revered figures in recent years, you can find failure.

Steve Jobs is a good example of how failure can't stop an individual. Sure, Jobs formed Apple and helped popularize the first computer. He was also ousted out of the company due to his tyrannical leadership style and instability. Jobs then moved on to create a new computer company called NeXT. That didn't pan out either. However, all of those failures didn't keep Jobs down. Pixar became a massive success. After that, Jobs retook control of Apple and amplified the company's previous successes.

More often, we seem to teach people that they should defer their failure on to someone else. Now, rather than addressing any problems, we're simply avoiding them. Blaming someone else is an easy way out.

In the end, we should treat failure the way NASA does: that it's something to be avoided, but something to learn from if it happens.

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Note: I'm still working on getting through the second House of Cards mini-series. Expect the review within a week or so.