

Success is complex, Failure is a no-brainer - danielh
http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/004674.html

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swombat
I'm not sure I fully buy this argument.

First of all, it puts down failure as something inferior. Failure is a natural
step to success. Calling it a no-brainer devalues its incredibly valuable
teachings. I have a chance at being successful in my current start-up in part
because of the issues I had in my previous one.

Secondly, it over-simplifies the definition of success. Is wandering the
oppressive halls of a Microsoft really success? Sure, for Bill Gates,
Microsoft is a success. But it didn't become a success through the
oppressiveness of its halls - the most valuable game-changing moves happened
long before it was a huge mega-corporation, when it was busy building things
like MS DOS and Windows and setting up all the dominos to fall in the right
place.

It's an interesting thought overall, but I don't really see the value of
applying it so directly to business or careers.

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danielh
My understanding of the post is that one single mistake might be enough to
ruin your business or career. To grow and succeed, you have to get everything
right. Or at least the majority of things. And this gets more and more
complex.

I totally agree with you, failures can be very valuable, as long as you learn
from them.

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cmos
When starting a company in the beginning it's really clear what success means:
Hitting payroll and staying alive.

Once you clear that hurdle it get's a lot more complicated. No longer is it
black and white. Alive or Dead.

It's actually easier to live on the edge, though far less desirable. Things
are a lot more clear.

