Policy makers from the government of Singapore to the European Union have advocated “embracing failure” to encourage entrepreneurship. During this year’s launch of the White House initiative Startup America, one attendee made an impassioned plea that the United States follow this advice. After all, wasn’t it the fearlessness of America’s great pioneers—their willingness to stumble during their quest—that led them to succeed against all odds?
Well-intentioned though they may be, these attempts to celebrate failure are misguided. Fear should not be confused with anxiety—and celebrating failure seems aimed at reducing anxiety.
Anxiety, Freud is said to have explained, is when you irrationally react to a simple stick as if it were a dangerous snake. Fear is when you react to a dangerous snake as if it were, well, dangerous. Anxiety is dysfunctional, but fear can be good: It helps protect us from things that are dangerous—such as risk taking. Entrepreneurs, in my experience, develop a healthy fear of what can go wrong. They just don’t let it paralyze them.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Column: Entrepreneurs and the Cult of Failure - Harvard Business Review
Author: Daniel Isenberg
