I have not failed. I’ve just found 1,000 ways that won’t work,” said Thomas Edison the inventor of electricity. Just think about it, if Edison had believed in failure we would still be living in darkness. The message is, if you have started a small company. After struggling for few years you find it is not viable and close it down. Then do not call yourself a failure.
Actually, according to the new perspective, you are adding a feather in your cap because you will be called an experienced learner. You have learnt a valuable lesson which no university can teach you. By daring to start a new enterprise you have competed against the big guys. You were able to deal with chaos, uncertainty, confusion. You learned how to deal with people and hire and fire them. There were enough people pushing you back, not believing in you, but you persevered, took risks, and in the process acquired a considerable self-esteem. You have overcome the fundamental fear of failure. You are part of the new philosophy of “lean start-ups”.
It’s a totally new perception of the business world. An American software engineer Eric Ries developed the idea of “lean start-ups” from experience. His first startup failed because he and his colleagues did not understand the wants of their target customers. Nonetheless, he was happy because he realised that he had emerged stronger than before — more confident and full of self-esteem. As failed entrepreneurs learn to deal with the hyper-competitive new economy, the demand for such entrepreneurs is growing. And this learning from failure is applicable to other areas of life as well. Ries says, “We can learn from those businesses to improve virtually everything we do. Lean Start-up principles can be applied to government programmes, to healthcare, and to solving the world’s great problems.”
This liquid approach to business and to life in general is what Osho has been propagating. According to him life is ever renewing in itself so one should be ready to learn every moment. And it is not an intellectual learning mind you. “When one is truly learning, he learns through every pore of the body, through every breath, through every small particle of his life, with each throbbing of his heart. When the total individuality is prepared to learn, even a very small challenge thrills you and the dormant life energy is aroused.”
Amrit Sadhana is in the management team of Osho International Meditation Resort, Pune.
She facilitates meditation workshops around the country and abroad.
