Failure is the mother of success

Great entrepreneurs and innovators are often defined by how they overcome adversity. Dr Andrew Woon CMBE advocates the need for students to learn to celebrate their failures as well as well as their successes as part of their growth.

I recently attended a graduation ceremony, and as an educator, I always feel a great sense of pride, especially during the academic procession. Traditionally, graduation speeches overflow with congratulatory messages, praising graduates for their resilience and dedication, but I hardly hear anyone speak about their failures.

Undoubtedly, a graduation ceremony is a day of celebration. However, our world today is filled with challenges and failures. Therefore, offering overly optimistic hopes or an unrealistic vision of what graduates can achieve with their degrees does little to prepare them for future challenges.  

The culture of success and fear of failure

Today’s culture glorifies success, often fostering a fear of failure or dismissing the valuable lessons it provides. Many students prioritise praises and awards over personal development. As a result, they are becoming more result-oriented than process-oriented. Consequently, this mindset leads to missing the growth that comes from failure, the process of navigating out of failure, and the reflection.

As a module organiser, I often encounter students who challenge academic judgments, demanding extra marks to meet their academic goals. Yet, very few students seek additional feedback and coaching for improvement or personal growth. This fixation on grades over growth reflects a deeper issue — an education system and culture that prioritises results over the learning process itself.

While academic achievements, like good grades, are important considerations in the hiring process and do make a difference to applicants, real success in the workplace lies in the individual's mindset and personal skills.

Redefining failure

As the ancient Chinese proverb says, “failure is the mother of success”. Failure should not be seen as shameful and inferior, failure offers invaluable lessons. It helps us refine our vision, recognise our weaknesses, embrace self-forgiving and for others, and understand the importance of collaboration - all these essential qualities for success in any career and position.

Therefore, reflecting on failure is essential for growth. We must help students redefine failure, shifting their mindset away from equating success solely with academic excellence. After all, paper qualifications are no longer the sole "admission ticket" to future career success.

This is why I encourage my students to reflect on and celebrate their failures. I would rather have students experience failures during their time as students than face failures later in the harsh world, where the price would be much higher.

Meritocracy’s blind spot: The stigma around failure

Nevertheless, today’s culture of a self-centred meritocracy is the greatest obstacle to celebrating failures. Our current education system fails to cultivate the resilience needed to accept and face setbacks. Rather than celebrating successes, we should learn to celebrate failures, and the value of bravery in dealing with failure and growing from it.

While I am not suggesting that every student must fail in order to grow, failure is undeniably a prerequisite for success, especially in the business world. The success stories of great entrepreneurs and innovators are invariably marked by setbacks, and what truly defines them is how they overcome adversity.

True success builds on failures, as they encompass resilience, adaptability, and diverse talents — not just grades or degrees. To make learning and education more inclusive and equal, we should challenge the narrow stereotype of success under the meritocracy system in our society and education, as it promotes an exclusionary and limited definition of achievements.

For example, students who achieved Distinction often proudly share their accomplishments on social media platforms, while others may hesitate to share their learning journeys.

Beyond grades: Rethinking success

Therefore, I advocate that learning is a lifelong process. Academic achievements are a reflection of an individual's strengths within an academic setting and discipline, not as a definition of success — because success is not necessarily linked to academic accomplishments.

We, as educators, can make a difference in better preparing our students to be more resilient and future-ready by helping them see beyond academic metrics. Moreover, we can create a more inclusive learning environment by celebrating failures as part of growth.