Failure is an option.

David* (actually that is his real name) once lamented that some of his colleagues would rather die than say ‘we’ve stuffed it up.’ Instead, catchy phrases were used to paper over the cracks of reality. We’re not failing. We’re restructuring. We’re not looking at why we’re a mess. We’re conducting an organizational review. We’re not firing him. He’s spending more time with family.

We were once co-workers in a large US company that had a sizeable presence in the UK. The CEO at the time gave a speech containing the phrase failure is not an option. There was an audible groan in the greater London area, particularly coming from David’s direction.

Failure IS an option. It must be. It occurs so frequently. Surely failure must be talked about as an option if you plan to avoid it.

The danger in being unwilling to say ‘this is wrong’ or ‘we’re off course’ is that you keep wandering off course toward failure. If everyone is obeying a mantra that ‘failure is not an option’ then who is going to shout out, ‘hey, we’re failing!’

If very few possess such courage, if the consequences of speaking out are punitive, then a dreaded CYA (Cover Your Arse) culture emerges and then covering one’s arse is where the majority time, energy and creative thinking is spent. Madness sets in and everyone begins to call failure something else, preferably something akin to winning. It is delusional.

There are times to put the Yee-Ha speeches aside and get real. Decisions bring risk. Not making a decision is a risk. Not being able to live with the nature of risk can result in analysis paralysis. Not being able to hear about reality can result in surrounding yourself with yes men.

Corrective actions must be possible and the earlier and quicker you can correct, the faster you head toward something that looks like success.

The rational choice is to tell it like it is and then reorganize and change direction. Adjust the sails. Smart bosses appreciate people who speak up.

We need to be able to say, ‘we’ve stuffed it up’ and then start again.

Henry Ford said all this a long time ago: “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”