Humans are curious by nature. We strive for progress and those who truly succeed are often willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen. But when curiosity comes begging for novelty, that stone left unturned may hide fruition as much as disaster, and it is our job to look no matter the case. This is where the concept of “failure” comes into play.

Entrepreneurs are the best examples of those who take risks. As well educated/talented/funded they may be, many of their moves are shots in the dark. Credit is taken without knowing if it was truly deserved. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. The lesson here is to keep on going. People tend to say that they learn more from failure than success, but that isn’t always the case. The concept of failure in itself makes us short sighted:

When you think about it, “good” or “bad” are simply properties of societal emergence. Humans create their own meaning but fundamentally to observers, it is the outcome that matters, not the process. You only “fail” once you stop trying. It’s a game of chance (pronounced probability). Like Physics: actions and reactions. One should not worry about short term losses. The fear our limbic brain causes us to feel can be tricked. A systems-thinking approach faciliates the understaning of life’s complexisties at different scales. By looking at relationships as networks, an interesting thing occurs. We can reduce everything to 3 continuous steps:

Expansion

Breakage

Adjustment

First comes expansion and it is all about growth. Think of it as figurative process. The reduction of entropy. [Things] connect and form [bonds]. Said items will continue to flourish until an external factor gets in the way. Basic enough. So there is growth but what happens when there is hardship? This is exactly the point where things start to get interesting…

Next comes breakage and it is all about finding the point of no return. The limit. Teetering on the brink of chaos and harmony, it is the limit in which a system is at its peak. And this is where the word ‘failure’ usually gets dropped in. Depending on your time frame, life can be seen as a sequence of events or a continuous journey. This goes back to the issue of scale and seeing things as their whole or parts: binary or fluid. So if something goes ‘wrong’, it was the ‘wrong’ thing to do. Again, this notion of meaning is foreign to the laws that govern us all. Think back to when you learned how to ride a bike, speak a new language, or develop an athletic skill. Knowledge breaks down into data and algrothims. From our thoughts stem our actions. Everything is explained in the neural networks of our mind. We form new pathways through trial and error, implying that mistakes are crucial to advancement.

Finally comes adjustment. Homestasis. In startup terms, the pivot leading to the market fit. You are the ideal size and know your limits for this stage, but it’s time for a change. This is where potential comes into play. Another important concept that will tie everything together is quantum potentiality. The observer affects the behaviour of the observed. In other words, said business can have many options but only exists at one place when verified. It is intelliegent to keep options open, but the only way to validate them is by testing, and it is in the creation of this contraint that a limit can be set. This is the balance. Do you stay a certain size? Do you start up something new? Or do you try to grow again with this new found knowledge?

Now more than ever there is an important balance between data and intution thanks to big data and machine learning (a few of our favorite buzz words). It is important to look at this cycle and see it as a process all while remembering that failure is not an end but a normal part of the equation. We remember what scares us but it’s on the other side of fear that great things are born. Breakpoints are there to test us. Do we give up, or do we forge on? Zucks “Move fast as break things” should be the only answer you need. Get out there and make your mark.