How Failure Became A Cultural Fetish
ELLE Australia|January/February 2020
From influencers sharing their #fails on instagram to silicon valley holding parties for their blunders, failing has become a modern-day aspiration. But is it a privilege that only few people can really afford?
Alex Holder
How Failure Became A Cultural Fetish

Several years ago, I worked for a successful ad agency. The business was housed in an insouciant office and made millions each year by creating memorable advertising campaigns for some of the world’s biggest brands. In the advertising world, we were the pinnacle of success. And yet, in the foyer hung a sign that read: fail harder. It was a mission statement that the company championed, a counterintuitive way for its workers to look at the climb to the top. Something about it always made me feel uneasy. After all, this wasn’t an industry that venerated failure. As a 27-year-old trying to pull my life together to resemble that of a successful adult, I knew that if I screwed up on a job, I’d most likely be shown the door. >

The company, I came to realize, was not alone in its fetishization of something the rest of us have spent a lifetime being told to avoid. In Silicon Valley, failure is almost a religion, a rite of passage on the path to world-changing innovation. Risks and fuck-ups? They’re all part of the formula for those wanting to make a dent in the universe. As Tesla founder Elon Musk said: “If things are not failing, you are not innovating.”

Astro Teller, head of Google X (now just called “X”), says his company goes one step further, handing out failure bonuses to employees who admit that a project isn’t taking off (remember Google Glass?). The thinking is that it’s actually cheaper to move on from doomed projects, rather than let them suck up resources. Hell, failure can even be considered fun, with Teller’s company throwing “failure parties” to celebrate teams ditching projects that aren’t going anywhere. Ironically, Teller’s TED Talk, “The Unexpected Benefit Of Celebrating Failure”, has been anything but a flop – it’s been viewed more than 2.6 million times.

This story is from the January/February 2020 edition of ELLE Australia.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the January/February 2020 edition of ELLE Australia.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM ELLE AUSTRALIAView All
Books: Shelf-Care
ELLE Australia

Books: Shelf-Care

Find a little respite in this season’s most exciting new reads

time-read
5 mins  |
June/July 2020
ELLE Australia

Men's Rites

Deciding to go through a gender transition isn’t easy for anyone. But the hardest person for journalist Daniel Mallory ortberg to convince was himself

time-read
10+ mins  |
June/July 2020
Kick Start
ELLE Australia

Kick Start

In these uncertain times, louis vuitton’s artistic director nicolas ghesquière is looking to the past to help make sense of the future

time-read
3 mins  |
June/July 2020
ELLE Australia

Music: Everything Is Illuminated

Phoebe Bridgers is a musician who revels in the darkness, albeit having earned her place in the spotlight

time-read
6 mins  |
June/July 2020
SUPER NATURE ESCAPISM WILDERNESS BREATHING INFRESH AIR BATHING IN SUNSHINE
ELLE Australia

SUPER NATURE ESCAPISM WILDERNESS BREATHING INFRESH AIR BATHING IN SUNSHINE

IN THE SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY AND NEW HORIZONS, MODEL GEORGIA FOWLER HEADS FOR THE GREAT OUTDOORS

time-read
3 mins  |
June/July 2020
ELLE Australia

THE big CLEANSE

WE’VE PURGED OUR KITCHEN CABINETS OF SUGAR AND CULLED THE CLOTHES THAT DON’T SPARK JOY, BUT WE MAY HAVE ARRIVED AT THE MOST BENEFICIAL (AND EASIEST) CLEANSE OF ALL

time-read
6 mins  |
June/July 2020
ELLE Australia

TALKING to strangers

SINCE THE EARLY 1900S, AN AGONY AUNT HAS BEEN A WILLING EAR. BUT AT A TIME OF DMS AND ASKME-ANYTHINGS, SEEKING ADVICE FROM SOMEONE YOU DON’T KNOW HAS BECOME RISKY BUSINESS

time-read
8 mins  |
June/July 2020
singled OUT
ELLE Australia

singled OUT

WE’VE ENTERED AN ERA OF MYRIAD RELATIONSHIP STATUSES – COUPLED, FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS, OPEN, POLYGAMOUS, THREE-DIGITALDATES-IN-BUT UNSURE-WHERE-THIS-IS-GOING. But is flying solo the last taboo?

time-read
5 mins  |
June/July 2020
GYPSY CREEK
ELLE Australia

GYPSY CREEK

INTERIOR DESIGNER LOUELLA BOÌTELGILL TAKES US INSIDE HER QUIRKY BYRON BAY HINTERLAND CREATION, WHICH OVERFLOWS WITH A BEACHY, HAPPY VIBE

time-read
2 mins  |
June/July 2020
DRIVE: DESIGN in motion
ELLE Australia

DRIVE: DESIGN in motion

HOW THE HOTTEST INTERIOR TRENDS COULD DEFINE WHAT YOUR NEXT CAR LOOKS LIKE

time-read
2 mins  |
June/July 2020