The Secret to Building Something Great? Fail More Often
Most companies get failure completely wrong. They treat it like a disease to be avoided at all costs, when really it’s more like a vitamin – something you need daily to grow stronger.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, especially in the context of building and scaling businesses. The companies that truly succeed aren’t the ones with the perfect track record. They’re the ones that have turned failure into a deliberate practice.
Here’s what I mean: Instead of creating elaborate systems to avoid failure, build systems that embrace it. We’ve developed what we call “Daily Igniters” – a simple framework of 5 business-focused activities plus 3 critical tasks for personal growth. It’s binary: you either complete them all or you “lose” the day. And you know what? Most people lose some days. That’s the point.
Think of it like working out. Nobody gets stronger by lifting weights they can easily handle. You grow by pushing until failure, then recovering, then pushing again. Business works the same way.
We apply this mindset everywhere. Our recruiters follow a “444 System” – 4 calls, 4 texts, 4 emails daily. Will they fail some days? Absolutely. But each failure teaches them something about timing, messaging, or approach that they wouldn’t learn otherwise.
But here’s where it gets interesting: This isn’t just about individual growth. We’re building seven specialized companies under one umbrella, each focused on different niches. Every failure in one area becomes a lesson for the entire ecosystem. It’s like having seven laboratories running experiments simultaneously.
The really powerful part? This approach scales beautifully in a remote-first world. We’ve built our entire operation around the idea that failure shouldn’t just be acceptable – it should be expected and celebrated. Our hybrid work model isn’t about avoiding office politics or saving on real estate. It’s about creating space for people to fail, learn, and grow on their own terms.
The trick is measuring the right things. We don’t track hours worked or even number of successful placements. We track “opportunities created” – because every opportunity, whether it works out or not, is a chance to learn something new.
Most companies try to build perfect systems. We’re building anti-fragile ones – systems that actually get stronger when things go wrong. Because in the end, the goal isn’t to avoid failure. It’s to fail better, fail faster, and turn those failures into fuel for growth.
That’s how you build something that lasts.