Having a go.

I'm sitting on the sidelines waiting to play our next game of basketball at the Pan Pacific Games, watching a couple of teams go through their paces when I notice a debate occurring on the losing side's bench. Seems not everyone is happy with the outcome that's about to happen, i.e. a loss, and it's vexing some on the team, while others agree with the coach who is satisfied everyone is "having a go". The great Aussie idiom of doing one's best under trying circumstances, aspiring while looking failure in the eyes, a determined effort to be proud of, so others admire your conviction and courage. This has been the backbone of a nation for so long that many have forgotten, forgotten about, have a crack, have a shot, have a stab, speculate, strive and challenge for the golden ring.

Forgotten not just on the sporting field but also in business, where admiration for effort has been lost, replaced by a win at all costs atmosphere creating a fear of failure mentality that stifles innovation, creativity and "having a go". For many in business, to fail is to be inadequate and deficient. For many in business failure is not an option, curtailing their ability to learn anything new for they are likely too cautious to ever achieve even the smallest of accomplishments. No matter how impossible it might be to go through life without failure, many businesses still subscribe to the don't fail or else mantra, giving their employees no wiggle room to be successful and to drive the company forward.

The list of corporate failures, Steve Jobs fired from Apple, Richard Branson, high school drop out, along with sporting failures, Michael Jordan cut from his high school basketball team, are at the top of a long list of people not giving up, "having a go" and eventually succeeding. Failure to the successful is just a matter of perspective, a matter of experience from which to learn, they succeed by a different mantra of fail fast and fail often. The admiration and appreciation for the effort and commitment in business today, is too often waylaid by an emphasis on bottom line productivity, revoking any atmosphere developed around authenticity and innovation. It's the reason that legacy companies are challenged by the fecundity of online innovation, born of serial failure and eventual success.

No matter how many points that team eventually lost by, their CEO, the coach had the right idea, fostering an undertone of accomplishment and eventual success to come from the hard lessons of defeat. Lessons learnt "by having a go", not backing down and trusting in your team mates to back you up. It's the team companies that are the bench marks of success today, from Zappos, 37 signals, Pinterest to Fast Company, who have leaders pushing their staff beyond just everyday work, beyond just 9 to 5, into areas where failure is an option embraced for its a ability to teach.

The real test is the learn, are you willing to learn by failing, is your company willing to fail and learn from that failure? Is your company creating the right atmosphere of safety, allowing failure to be part of a winning culture? If not, then consider joining the above basketball team for their eventual win will be the sweetest thing.