An employee at International Business Machines (IBM) once committed an error that cost the company half a million dollars.
Was he dismissed? Not at all.
IBM’s founder, Thomas John Watson, chose to retain him, reasoning that the company had already spent half a million dollars on that employee’s education through experience.
Where others might have seen a liability, Watson saw an investment. He understood that failure, when examined rather than feared, becomes the most valuable form of learning.
Failure, in itself, is not the enemy. Complacency is.
Every fall contains a lesson, and every lesson has a cost.
The wise do not waste either.
Failure isn’t the end. It’s tuition for success.