Does success breed success or failure?

1. 86

   alifeofdesignposted 11 years ago

   Does success breed success or failure?
   
   There are some that believe that success breeds success. There are many others, like myself, that believe failure breeds success. If you think that the later is true, how do we encourage that in our businesses and with our employees? Is there an acceptable percentage of failure or perhaps failures we can more readily accept and improve upon with damaging the company's bottom line or reputation?
   
   
   

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2. 69

   jabelufirozposted 11 years ago

   “Success breeds success.”
   
   With all due respect, we disagree.
   
   Success does not breed success.
   
   At least not directly.
   
   And in some cases, success actually breeds failure.
   
   Success breeds success, but only indirectly
   
   Success breeds affirmation. You’re on the right track. You’re doing the right things.
   
   Success breeds confidence. You did well. You’re going to reach BIGG success.
   
   Success breeds enthusiasm. Achieving a goal is fun. It’s easy to get excited about reaching for even bigger goals.
   
   Success breeds energy. You can’t wait to get started on your next goal. You’re all pumped up, ready to go!
   
   Success breeds all of these factors. You bring them all to your next BIGG thing.
   
   How can you help but win? But sometimes it doesn’t work out that way…
   
   Success breeds failure
   
   Sometimes, success leads to failure. This happens indirectly as well.
   
   We’ve seen it happen many times. We help small business owners start a second business.
   
   We share with them the 15 most common mistakes that people make when starting a second business.
   
   Seven of them are related to this attitude of success breeding success. Specifically, they get too confident.
   
   They make poor decisions or execute poorly because of this over-confidence. It leads to failure.
   
   It’s tougher to fail after an initial success than before. Generally, there’s more at risk financially.
   
   And it’s especially difficult emotionally. You start to question whether the first time was just luck.
   
   So success can breed success indirectly. But be on the alert for over-confidence so your success breeds BIGG success!
   
   http://biggsuccess.com/2011/07/20/succe … d-success/

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3. 70

   lburmasterposted 11 years ago

   It entirely depends on the family. Each family structure is different. Some force success on their own children, some allow their children to grow and prosper on their own pace, etc. The best family encourages their children to learn and develop mentally, physically, and psychologically but also teaches them their limits. There is a healthy balance.

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   1. 86

      alifeofdesignposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you, Leah, for your thoughts. I found it very interesting that your thoughts brought you immediately to family...perhaps that is where many people learn about success and failure first.

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4. 58

   Martin-ddpposted 11 years ago

   If you have success. You are more likey to have more.
   Its just like winning when someone does well its make that person feel good. This can be like a drug this feeling and drives people to be more and to want more.

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5. 70

   WalterPoonposted 11 years ago

   I believe both failure and success breeds success in their own way. For failure to breed success, you've to depend on yourself to succeed by working harder and smarter, e.g. becoming more innovative. When you are already successful, you can then depend on others to help you become even more successful. People like winners, not losers. That's why they say: "Success breeds success."
   
   Alifeofdesign, you must be thinking of intrapreneurship, when you ask: "If you think that the later is true, how do we encourage that in our businesses and with our employees?" Well, first is that the company must make it clear that it would not punish for failures, otherwise no one would want to take any risk. It should also spell out what the "carrot" is, so that people can decide whether it is worthwhile to take the risk.
   
   The company should determine how much it could afford to lose, without adversely jeopardizing the company. When failure is expected to threaten the survival of the company, it's a no-no, unless the company is already critically ill, in which case it has nothing to lose. It's no point to take a do-or-die attitude, when the company is doing well.
   
   What is the acceptable percentage of failure is actually subjective. A mediocre company can tolerate higher risk than a company that is doing very well. I guess the answer will depend, to a great extent, on the (1) cost-benefit; (2) the probability of success; and (3) the effect of failure.

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6. 76

   RAHARposted 10 years ago

   Success breeds success if the resultant output  of previous success is invested for better avenues and failure if one gets haughty and proud and over confident of one's own skills.
   
   For example a small success of putting 1% extra every day results into tremendous increase in efficiency whereas a 1% decrease everyday for 365 days results into a total diasaster.
   
   1.01^365 = 37.8 and 0.99^365= 0.03

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