Failure isn’t something most of us are taught to embrace. We’re wired to avoid it. To get it right the first time. To not mess up.
But the first time I heard someone reframe failure in a way that actually stuck, it was business coach Marie Forleo. She explained that the acronym FAIL stood for First Attempt In Learning. And that clicked. I suddenly thought, what if failure is not the end of the road, but the start of a better solution?
It’s All In How You See It
This idea sits at the core of what psychologist Carol Dweck calls a growth mindset. In her research, she found that people tend to operate from one of two ways of thinking:
A fixed mindset assumes your abilities are set. You’re either good at something or you’re not. So when something doesn’t go well, it feels personal. It becomes a reflection of your capability.
A growth mindset assumes you can improve. Skills can be developed. So, when something doesn’t go well, it becomes information. Something to adjust, refine, and build from.
In other words, it’s the same situation, with a very different interpretation, and ultimately, a very different trajectory.
Failure Isn’t the End
We’ve seen so many examples of this through history. Thomas Edison tested thousands of materials before successfully creating the light bulb. He didn’t see those attempts as failures, but as part of the process. And then there are Post-it Notes, which came from a failed attempt to create a strong adhesive. The original goal didn’t work, but something useful came out of it.
This shows up all the time. Progress and innovation rarely happen in a straight line. They come through iteration, trying something, learning from it, and adjusting.
But in our day-to-day work, we often don’t give ourselves that same space. When something doesn’t go as planned, we either give up too quickly or move on without getting curious about what actually didn’t work.
And with that comes a layer of stress. The frustration of time lost. The pressure of missed expectations. The feeling that something didn’t land the way it “should have.” It can start to feel like defeat instead of data.
And when individuals interpret it that way, it doesn’t just impact them. It impacts the team. People stop staying with problems long enough to solve them. They hesitate to take risks. They play it safe. Over time, that limits creativity, slows progress, and holds back the collective performance of the group.
But that’s exactly where the opportunity is.
What This Looks Like at Work (For Leaders and Teams)
As a leader, you’re not just managing performance. You’re shaping how your team responds to challenge, feedback, and failure.
And fixed mindset thinking shows up in everyday language across teams:
- “I’m not cut out for this.”
- “I blew it.”
- “There’s no point in trying again.”
These aren’t just passing comments. They’re signals that someone has closed the loop.
And when that happens, work gets impacted. People disengage from the problem. They move on too quickly or wait for direction instead of working through it. Over time, that shows up in lower-quality thinking, less ownership, and outcomes that never quite reach their full potential.
Your role is to help reopen that loop, not just for individuals, but for how your team operates as a whole.
A growth mindset shifts the conversation:
- “What do you think happened here?”
- “Where did it start to go off track?”
- “What would you try differently next time?”
It moves the focus from judgment to learning and keeps people engaged, even when things don’t go as planned.
Because when teams are willing to stay with a challenge, work through it, and try again, that’s where better thinking, stronger performance, and more consistent results start to take shape.
Three Ways Leaders Can Reinforce a Growth Mindset
- Normalize it
Make it clear, consistently, that not getting it right the first time is part of the process. When this is expected, people are more willing to stay engaged. - Coach it
Ask questions before giving answers. When leaders jump in too quickly, teams become dependent. When leaders coach, teams learn to think, solve, and adapt. - Reinforce it
Acknowledge progress, effort, and adjustment, not just outcomes. This keeps people motivated to keep working through challenges, not just aiming for perfection.
Action to try this week:
Build this into your team rhythm. In your next meeting or project debrief, take five minutes to ask: What did we learn? Where did this go off track? What would we adjust next time?
When learning becomes part of how the team operates, people stay with challenges longer, think more critically, and contribute at a higher level.
Because FAIL isn’t the end. It’s First Attempt In Learning.
And when teams start to treat it that way, they don’t just recover faster. They build the ability to stay steady, keep learning, and move forward together, even when things don’t go as planned.