Failure is not an option?

I had the pleasure last year to meet and introduce Gene Krantz, the man responsible for that memorable phrase. If you don’t know, he managed the Apollo 13 crisis. He is a remarkable man, and his determination to save his astronauts is embodied in his famous phrase; “Failure is not an option”.

But in the context of business, failure has to be an option; it is what inspires success. If there is no chance of failure what you get is government. Inefficient agents knowing anything they do cannot impact their success or failure. You get morass, bureaucracy, mediocrity, lost hope, and a failed system.

GM, Ford, Chrysler, and many financial institutions, are in their predicaments because of poor management, both of the business, and for car companies, the unions. These businesses must be allowed to fail to become more efficient. Lots of pain and suffering brings about a new perspective of the future. You learn what to do and not to do next time. It is what has evolved our economy into the greatest in the world.

Failure is the right option. Failure is the only option that will get us back on track. Failure is the precedent to success. Until we stop trying to “save” everyone, we will be stuck in this period of prolonged waiting. Because believe me, we will fail eventually. The longer we try to prop things up with the government the bigger and harder the failure will be. So let’s let the failure begin.