The End of Failure Stories: Embracing the Pursuit of Excellence

Over the last decade, there’s been a significant shift towards being more comfortable with failure instead of always aiming for perfection. Many books and articles discuss the value of making mistakes, learning from them, and celebrating them. I even started Glitchpath in 2016, a tech company that uses a tool called the premortem to help teams identify potential project pitfalls before they become big problems.

Failure is a staple in B2B storytelling. We’ve all heard tales of business leaders with big ideas who endure self-inflicted challenges, learn from their mistakes, and become wildly successful. Do you know a CEO who hasn’t stood on stage, describing himself as young and reckless, humbled by his missteps, and now a servant leader who leans into empathy and compassion?

You know that guy. You might even be him. Except when you fail, you get fired.

Failure is everywhere, by default and by design, because we are human and are told that failure is an inevitable part of the hero story. But I’m here to challenge this narrative. The truth is that failure, as an outcome or a subject matter, is boring. It can be funny when people and businesses hit rock bottom, but it’s profoundly depressing to watch the same mistakes repeatedly—especially when they get funded despite terrible track records.

Mistakes and disappointment happen, but they don’t have to be the story. These days, I’m over failure and have moved on to a new, more compelling topic: excellence.

No matter the industry, someone usually uses sports metaphors at business conferences, often citing Michael Jordan. His journey to excellence is frequently cited as inspiration. Jordan once said something like, “You must take a hundred shots to make one.”

Or maybe that was Jimmy V.

The story is often framed to show that even Michael Jordan, the GOAT, failed. But that’s short-sighted. It’s not about missing 99 shots. Olympic athlete stories are framed this way, too, but it does a disservice to the actual ingredients of success. It’s about work ethic, integrity, vision, and the drive towards excellence. Jordan’s rigor, self-belief, commitment to well-being, understanding of risk, and push toward continuous learning made him excellent at his job, even when nobody told him to practice all those shots. This commitment to continuous learning is critical to excellence.

When we tell failure stories, we fall into a trope that doesn’t serve the modern audience. I’ve fallen into this trap many times, too. In fact, I wrote a whole book about how I overcame my career mistakes to coach people under my one guiding principle: Your work is not your worth.

But I regret that framework for my book because the time I spent making mistakes and wandering through the desert isn’t as fun or impressive as what I’ve accomplished on my journey towards personal and professional excellence. I wish I had written less about my cringeworthy ennui and more about the people, organizations, and industries impacted because I didn’t settle.

Failure storytelling is an old, failed framework.

If I’ve learned anything about life, it’s this: the obstacle doesn’t make you interesting; it’s the outcome. People don’t succeed because they make mistakes. They succeed because they believe in themselves, focus on their well-being in a meaningful way, bravely face risks and challenges, and push themselves to learn more about the world to solve big problems. They never give up hope, even while managing self-doubt and external challenges.

The internal drive to be the best because you believe in yourself and not because some boss is telling you what to do? The push toward winning even when you’ve got a lifetime of challenges that would derail the average person? Get to the good stuff faster. Failure is implied, but excellence is the genuine surprise ending. Give us more of that, please. Let’s focus on what makes us interesting: the relentless pursuit of excellence, the drive to be the best, and the unwavering commitment to never settle for anything less.

That’s my commitment to you in my storytelling moving forward. I pledge to continue sharing stories that inspire and empower, focusing on the quest for excellence and the helpful lessons learned along the way.