Does Failing Fast Really Mean to Fail?

A few years ago I wrote about the danger of too much work in process under the guise of failing fast. The post was meant to highlight the danger of too much work in progress and the lack of prioritization that many organizations pursue.

This article is really about failing and failing fast.

Failing Fast Came from Kent Beck and Extreme Programming

Kent Beck popularized the phrase “Fail Fast”, or at least that is what I always believed. However, a quick search of Kent Beck’s 2004 book on Extreme Programming didn’t show any instances of failing fast.

The book does have a few great statements about failing including “When you don’t know what to do though, risking failure can be the shortest, surest road to success.” Beck also said this:

If you’re having trouble succeeding, fail. Don’t know which of three ways to implement a story? Try it all three ways. Even if they all fail, you’ll certainly learn something valuable. Isn’t failure waste? No, not if it imparts knowledge. Knowledge is valuable and sometimes hard to come by.

Failure may not be avoidable…