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A recent article from BusinessWeek titled "How Failure Breeds Success" is not the first to introduce the notion that failure is a good thing. We've all heard the quotes or seen motivational posters reading things like:

Failure is success if we learn from it.
- Malcolm Forbes

In order for you to profit from your mistakes, you have to go out and make some.
- Unknown

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.
- Albert Einstein

Failure is only a temporary change in direction to set you straight for your next success. -- Denis Waitley

Men succeed when they realize that their failures are the preparation for their victories. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you are not big enough to lose, you are not big enough to win. -- Walter Reuther

I missed every shot I never took. -- Wayne Gretsky

But let's touch ground with reality for second. Don Just, founder of Just Partners and former CEO of the Martin Agency shared his thoughts on failure in a recent article published from the VCU Adcenter magazine, Sixty.

He says, "Lots of agencies try to disabuse their staff of the fear of failing by hanging nicely art directed posters with swell, confidence-building phrases like "Don't Be Afraid to Fail"...Truth is, I never seen a single poster that said, "Don't worry. We Reward Failure." And, make no mistake, this industry doesn't - emotional posters notwithstanding. Off-strategy campaigns that lead to major client losses generally lead to layoffs; employees that continually fail (even if they are trying really, really hard!) aren?t around very long; and, clients with next-day business needs don't take long to request new players on their teams if objectives are not being met. At such times, all that "Don't Be Afraid to Fail" stuff doesn't seem to apply to the people who are let go.

Of course, the agency principles usually hang around. And, so do the posters, presumably to serve as beacons of goodwill and motivation to the new hires when they arrive."

BusinessWeek also admits that "not all failures are praiseworthy. Some flops are just that: bad ideas." Examples include the eVilla, Sony Corp's $500 "Internet appliance" and the unattractive Pontiac Aztek, GM's "crossover" SUV. However, BusinessWeek does address "intelligent failures" as "those that happen early and inexpensively and that contribute new insights about your customers."

Increased transparency amongst industries caused by growing number of blogs and consumer-to-consumer interaction is having direct effects on the credibility of brands. Influx believes brands should embrace this opportunity to share their failures and reasons for them. People are afraid of what they dont understand. If a company is honest about its attempts, successes and failures this established credibilty will reduce the fear of failure and thus create an atmosphere that embraces failure as an attempt to succeed - granted the failures are not "bad ideas." This increased ability to communicate will debilitate or aid a brand throughout their failures and experiments. There is no recipe to an "intelligent failure" but some ingredients include smart thinking, a finger on the pulse of reality and courage to try something new.