Failure is part of the process.
Feeling bummed about past professional disasters? Turns out, early career blunders can breed success down the road. In an October 2019 New York Times article, reporter Tim Herrera discusses the upside of career setbacks.
Here's an excerpt from his piece:
According to a recent paper published in the journal Nature Communications, early-career setbacks can, somewhat counterintuitively, result in a stronger career in the long term — stronger even than that of people who never had a setback.
Researchers compared the careers of two groups of young, “statistically identical” scientists: one group that just barelysecured a grant from the National Institutes of Health — the narrow-wins; and one group that just barely missed securing the same grant — the near-misses.
After 10 years, researchers found that the losing group had gone on to have more successful and impactful careers than the group that had won the grant.
In other words, failures in the first phases of your career may mean you can come back stronger than those who never stumbled.
“Paradoxically, the near-misses systematically outperform the narrow-wins,” said Dashun Wang, an associate professor of management and organizations at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern, and a co-author of the study.
Wonder why early losses beget later victories? Find answers in the full article here.
And remember, if you're struggling in your career, keep going. Try new approaches. Experiment. Belly flops are integral to success. Stay the course, even when your efforts feel futile. You'll get there.
I'd love to hear how you bounced back from a career disappointment. Let me know what you think of the article, too.
—Gretchen