From IBM founder Tom Watson:

“It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You’re thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all.”

In what may seem like a strange twist on this blog, today I want to encourage you to fail. Fail often, fail fast and fail big. Why? Because failure is the breeding ground for success. Want proof? Think about learning to walk.

When you were somewhere around your 1st birthday, something clicked about the time your coordination and muscular development were ready and you attempted movement on two legs. And you fell. You tried again and fell again. Each fall – failure – was providing feedback to your brain that was used to alter your next attempt. This feedback loop of try-fail-adjust-try is what taught you to walk. The failures bred success. The same thing happened when you learned to ride a bicycle. Then a skateboard. Then…

Then you went to school. Suddenly, despite years of learning through failure feedback, you were taught that failure was bad. So you stopped failing by limiting your attempts to only those that you knew would succeed. And for this you were handsomely rewarded with good grades and kudos.

I’m not trying to bash school, I’m pointing out the contradiction between our nature of learning from a failure-adjust feedback loop and the “don’t fail” mentality we’re taught later on. They both have there place, but I’m encouraging you to use the natural loop. If it worked as a one year old, it’ll work now. Here’s how:

Fail Often

Success teaches nothing. How often have you thought about walking lately? If your answer is anything but “not at all” it’s only because you recently stumbled, tripped or fell. The only time we learn is when we fail, so if you want to live, find, push through and grow, fail often. Seek to “double your failure rate” as Tom Watson suggests. It will double your success rate.

Fail Fast

Despite what I’m saying here, the point is NOT in the failing, it’s in the feedback and learning. So don’t belabor the point. If you’re failing, FAIL. Get it over with, learn the lesson and move on. In other words, cut your losses.

Fail Big

Go for it. If failure breeds success, it only makes sense that big failures breed big successes. The key here is to “fail up.” Think of each failure as a step up not a knocking down. With that in mind, don’t hesitate to take big steps sometimes.

Who knows, there’s always a chance you just might succeed too.

And if you do? Don’t become complacent or “all that.” Learn from your successes too. Treat them like a failure by tearing them apart looking for feedback that will help you in the future.

Go fail.