--- title: Why Fear of Failure is Worse Than Failure description: Explore how the fear of failure can stifle innovation and creativity, and discover a mindset shift towards embracing possibilities and learning from experiences. image: https://www.centreforteams.com/hubfs/Fear%20of%20failure.jpg --- [\+ 020 4538 9923](tel:+%20020%204538%209923)[info@centreforteams.com](mailto:info@centreforteams.com) [\+ 44 20 4538 9923](tel:+2045389923)[info@centreforteams.com](mailto:info@centreforteams.com) [![CFT-Nav-Bar-Logo-NEW](https://www.centreforteams.com/hs-fs/hubfs/CFT-Nav-Bar-Logo-NEW.webp?width=414&height=69&name=CFT-Nav-Bar-Logo-NEW.webp "CFT-Nav-Bar-Logo-NEW")](https://www.centreforteams.com/) [![Screenshot\_2024-06-19\_104847-removebg-preview](https://www.centreforteams.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot_2024-06-19_104847-removebg-preview.png?width=190&height=48&name=Screenshot_2024-06-19_104847-removebg-preview.png "Screenshot_2024-06-19_104847-removebg-preview")](https://www.centreforteams.com/) - 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Yet a fear of failure can exist in perpetuity, paralysing us in a permanent state of inaction. An experiment that does not work can still tell us something. But fear of failure starts influencing us before anything has happened. It changes what we attempt, what we say and, sometimes, what we are prepared even to imagine. When people become preoccupied with avoiding failure, the sensible option can quickly become the safest option. We hold back ideas. We avoid difficult conversations. We choose the familiar route because it is easier to defend and it makes us feel safe. Nothing has failed but opportunity has been lost. Perhaps this is where positive psychology offers us another way of thinking. When Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi helped establish the field of positive psychology, they argued that psychology should concern itself not only with what goes wrong, but with the qualities that allow people and communities to flourish: optimism, creativity, courage, and hope among them (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Apply that thinking to failure and an interesting shift occurs... If we approach uncertainty primarily through the question **“How do we avoid getting this wrong?”**, our attention is naturally drawn towards risk, protection and what is already known. But if we approach the same uncertainty through questions such as **“What might be possible?”**, **“What could we learn?”** or **“What might we discover?”**, the landscape becomes broader. There is evidence to back this up. Research by Alice Isen and colleagues found that positive belief improved performance on tasks requiring creative problem-solving (Isen et al., 1987). Later work suggested that positive belief can support flexible, innovative and open-minded thinking when dealing with complex situations (Isen, 2001). This matters enormously for innovation. Innovation asks people to move beyond certainty, to take a risk and suggest something unproven. If an organisation frames failure primarily as danger, people quite rationally reduce their exposure to it. They offer safer ideas, take fewer chances and remain closer to what already works. Fear of failure can therefore become a brake on innovation before failure has even occurred. This does not mean replacing realism with relentless positivity. Optimism does not remove risk, and positive thinking should never mean pretending that bad ideas are good ones. It means changing the starting question. Instead of **“How can we make sure this doesn’t fail?”**, perhaps we ask: **“How can we explore this possibility intelligently?”** Instead of treating uncertainty as something to fear, we make it somewhere to investigate. Perhaps, then, the opposite of fear of failure is not confidence - it is possibility. Fear asks: **“What if this goes wrong?”** Possibility asks: **“What if this leads somewhere we haven’t been before?”** [![Centre For Teams - Large CTA (4)](https://hubspot-no-cache-eu1-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/default/7628916/interactive-161174640054.png)](https://www.centreforteams.com/hs/cta/wi/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLKh1lhoCltMOeDVI1dYJwUQ%2B1LRzP0pMXcRmANoAdnCBTUYX7mddrw7NfdnJznDZgukrKwS%2BFcm0S34WPVXA8eXhjm1fHY6aTdbE7sEmy7bKgIC1bMqN0e4Vj0pmZ8n0XkoUM%2BNQF9MiOUQ2bKatDvlaaylNvoDJzMDK3nUlw7IfQeS9f6yC8%2FivVYj%2FagqpBuOwq65fawdLJL77M8aIzTSdnlJmL%2F0OwkwbVxKBUhr8W02N%2FE%3D&webInteractiveContentId=161174640054&portalId=7628916)   References: Isen, A. M. (2001). An influence of positive affect on decision making in complex situations: Theoretical issues with practical implications. *Journal of Consumer Psychology, 11*(2), 75–85. [https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327663JCP1102\_01](https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327663JCP1102_01) Isen, A. M., Daubman, K. A., & Nowicki, G. P. (1987). Positive affect facilitates creative problem solving. *Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52*(6), 1122–1131. [https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.52.6.1122](https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.52.6.1122) Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. *American Psychologist, 55*(1), 5–14. 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