SUCCESS magazine printed an article that we here at the Failure Blog can appreciate. It is titled Failing to Succeed and details how defeat can bring you success.
The magazine created this piece around the major failure of the giant corporation, IBM. The story revolves around the president of the corporation, Tom Watson, who oversaw the business over 50 years ago. He, who was not known for being mild mannered, had called an employee into his office who lost the organization $10 million. Said employee was terrified he would lose his job. Instead, Watson surprised him.
“I’m so relieved,” the VP told him. “I thought you were bringing me in here to fire me because I cost the company $10 million.”
Watson laughed. “Are you serious?” he said. “The last thing in the world I’d do is fire you, because I just invested $10 million in your education.”
It’s definitely mind blowing for our generation to comprehend something like this, that a boss could forgive such a massive, costly failure. Writer of the article, Chris Raymond, really hits the nail on the head when he describes how we live in an era which requires perfection. He goes onto state something that we couldn’t agree more on.
“We all make mistakes—lots of them—and the people who are truly successful take the time to learn from them.”
Watson definitely understood that concept. The businessman continued to bring IBM many years of prosperity. He learned that failure can actually lead you to success!
Credit to reader Scott Kurland for suggesting this article!