

Learning from failure is overrated - pwim
http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/1555-learning-from-failure-is-overrated

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henryl
It seems 37signals is running out of things to be contrarian about. It is easy
to "invert" a saying like "learn from your failures" and make it seem profound
but that doesn't make it any more valuable or useful. It is easy to learn from
success as it generally carries momentum and begets even more success.
Learning from failure is hard because it tends to cause people to give up
altogether, requiring those who have experienced it to either stay optimistic
and cull important lessons from it, or to simply go home defeated.

~~~
litewulf
On the flip side, I imagine failure is _much_ more common than success. So
even if there is less to learn and its harder, there's many more opportunities
to be had.

~~~
Retric
The problem with looking at success is it's hard to separate what happened to
work once from what is a good idea. You can go to Las Vegas bet everything you
own on one hand / spin / roll of the dice and win, but it's not a good idea.
However, looking at the people that lost everything at Las Vegas is a
different story.

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markup
Be sure not to miss "Learning from mistakes" from 37signals.
[http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/60-learning-from-
mistakes...](http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/60-learning-from-mistakes-
friendster-etc)

~~~
electromagnetic
I believe they're running out of ideas... unless they learnt from their
mistake of learning from their mistakes.

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jayp
Can we please stop posting every article from Signal vs. Noise here? If
anything, that blog is overrated...here on HN.

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froo
Learning from Failure, Styudying your Successes... its two sides of the same
coin as far as I'm concerned.

It's all about trying to improve your performance in whatever you do, arguing
semantics is pointless.

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antidaily
Saying things are overrated is overrated.

~~~
Devilboy
'Only some of us can learn from other people's mistakes. The rest of us ARE
the other people.' \-- Forgotten

~~~
azharcs
quote is by Zig Zigler.

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jeeringmole
"Dealing with failure is easy: Work hard to improve. Success is also easy to
handle: You've solved the wrong problem. Work hard to improve." Alan Perlis,
"Epigrams in Programming" (#101) <http://www.cs.yale.edu/quotes.html>

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jacquesm
I'd say that learning from failure is the only way to really learn. Scratch
anybody that's successful in business and all but a very lucky few of them
will have 'failed' at some point or other.

You wouldn't be able to walk if you didn't 'learn from failure', it's our
nature, pure & simple.

~~~
coglethorpe
As children, we know that walking has inherent value. Edison learned many
different ways to _not_ make a light bulb, but he knew that it was a great
feat if he could just get it right.

My struggle sometimes seems to be knowing what direction to start going in, no
matter how many times I fall or filaments I vaporize.

I certainly know several ways to make a web site that no one will visit. :-)

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nx
You always learn from all types of experience. Of course you won't just learn
how to do something by doing it wrong many times, but the reason for the
"cultural fascination with failure" is that if you don't try you don't
succeed, and if you do try but fail, should we say "well, you did it wrong?".
No, learning from failure is an optimistic way to see failure, and it's
perfectly fine. The post is a bit ridiculous.

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azharcs
Here is an amazing video which shows some of the famous people who failed. If
you have never failed, you have never lived. Life = Risk.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6hz_s2XIAU>

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joshuaxls
Learning from 37signals is overrated.

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mixmax
Right now I miss downvoting

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wynand
The biggest deal about a culture that gratuitously accepts failure, is that
people become less afraid to fail. Therefore, they are more willing to take
risks.

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joe_the_user
The article wouldn't have its swarmy "contrarian" quality if they called it
"learn from your successes ALSO". That's good advice. Indeed, the changes are
your failures are things you're not so good at and your successes have been
things your good at. Improving the things you're already good might just be a
way of becoming __great __. Cool thought but we didn't need that "contrarian"
bit.

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diN0bot
learning from mistakes is part of it. experience is also crucial for
developing confidence (surety, decisiveness, calmness ?)

