There is no question that we have entered a period of economic uncertainty. And, especially as individuals and companies begin to tighten their financial belts, fear of failure might make you less inclined to implement innovative business and marketing strategies.

But in a post at Marketing Safari, Hjörtur Smárason argues that failure is not only an acceptable risk, it's just as important as success.

"Mistakes are a necessary part of learning, development and innovation," he says. "There's a lot you don't understand until you try it on yourself. And if you let the fear of failure stop you from trying something new, you'll face nothing but stagnation." In other words, bunting is safe, but you'll never hit a home run if you don't take a swing once in a while.

So instead of focusing on the negative aspects of past failures, zero in on the insight they provide. "One mistake doesn't mean that the next attempt is more likely to fail," says Smárason. "Actually, it should be the contrary. It should be more likely to succeed as that person hopefully learned something from the mistakes." And if you approach future plans with this rational pragmatism, you can innovate fearlessly as your reach for the greatest payoff.

The Po!nt: Don't be afraid to take calculated risks, and don't get discouraged if a few projects or ventures don't work out. "The more mistakes you make," says Smárason, "the better the chances for one of those risky decisions to be your big success."

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