Learning to see our contribution in our failures can accelerate the path to success. It's natural but not always accurate when we don't think we are at fault.

Might be time to take off the rose-coloured glasses

Let's start with how you view the cause of your failure: attribution theory

When you fail, you are more likely to think that it wasn't really your fault, that external factors beyond your control caused the failure.

This can limit your ability to grow / improve / succeed.

Because what you are not thinking are the thoughts that are in fact actionable, offering potential solutions to avoiding failure in the future.

So, if you failed an exam...

• You might think: I couldn't study because I live in a very noisy household – not my fault, nothing I could do.
• You don't think: Actually, I could have gone to the library to study or joined a study group or watched less TikTok.

If you failed a job interview...

• You might tell yourself: The company probably had already selected an internal employee for the role and they were just going through the required process  – not my fault, nothing I could do.
• You don't tell yourself: Maybe I was not the the best candidate for the job so need to upskill or find a more suitable job.

If you failed to lose weight...

• You may attribute that to: This month there were way too many social events to attend, what can I do, I can only eat and drink what is there  – not my fault, nothing I could do.
• You don't see that you played a part: I could still have made make healthier choices at those events, eaten less or before I attended or run an extra hour to mop up those calories.

👩‍🔬Skip the science - take me to the Take outs >>>

What is attribution theory?

The way we view the world and events is affected by our own interpretation and analysis. Attribution theory, in a nutshell, is assigning the cause of success or failure in a way that promotes seeing oneself in a generally positive way. So we like to look good, even to ourselves.

Stuffed up – not your fault.  Blitzed it  – you are a frickin' legend!

When we succeed, we are more likely to think it is our fault we succeeded.

So say you succeed – you kick a goal, pass an exam, get a promotion, win lotto – you are likely to think the cause  is you. You practiced enough or have the skills or deserve the promotion based on your merit.

When we fail we are more likely to think it is not our fault and that reasons outside ourselves contributed to the failure.

If you fail – you miss the bus and are late, you fail to get the promotion, you burnt dinner – you are likely to think that it’s not your fault. Your alarm wasn’t loud enough to wake you, your boss promoted someone they liked more who was not any better than you, people around you were  asking to do things which made you forget about dinner in the oven.

Why does this matter – as long as we are viewing ourselves in a positive way?

Well, it matters because if we don’t attribute our failures to ourselves where appropriate* or don’t take some responsibility for our failures, we won’t learn from them, and there is great learning to be had in failure. If we think all failures are outside our control and there is nothing we can do about them, we lose the potential gain to be had moving forward. And we know from science that failure can contribute to success.

Evidence shows that failure is required for success

According to authors of a 2015 paper studying success, failures are the essential prerequisites for success”.[1] The authors studied how successful future attempts build on those past, including data from over 775,000 grant applications submitted to the National Institutes of Health as well as records from more than 250,000 innovators from VentureXpert, the official database for National Venture Capital Association.[1]

Interestingly the number of failures didn’t predict success, those who were successful failed about as often as those who failed.[1,2]

Not every failure leads to success

The study showed that doing more and changing everything at a subsequent attempt, rather than identifying what worked and what didn’t was less likely to lead to success..[1,2]  Additionally, less time between attempts was more likely to lead to success..[1,2] 

There is great learning to be had in failure.

So paying attention to failure and looking to see if some of the cause was contributed by oneself can accelerate learning from failure and ultimate success.

Take off the rose-coloured glasses!

Take outs

• Failure is generally required to achieve success
• Attribution theory means we may not take accountablility of our failures – acknowledge your part played in causing the failure
• Reflecting on failed attempts and incorporating that into future attempts is associated with being successful
• Reducing time between attempts is associated with a success

Action point: reflect on your failures

• What was my role in the failure? (Dig deep. Remove the rose-coloured glasses!)
• What can I do differently?
• When is the next opportunity I can do this?

References

1. Yin Y, Wang Y, Evans JA, Wang D. Quantifying the dynamics of failure across science, startups and security. Nature. 2019 Nov;575(7781):190–4. 
2. Noonan D. Failure Found to Be an Essential Prerequisite for Success [Internet]. Scientific American. [cited 2023 Jan 2]. Available from: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/failure-found-to-be-an-essential-prerequisite-for-success