[Namsan Ddalggakbari] Is There No More Room for Mistakes... You Are the True Expert

[Asia Economy Reporter Seomideum] “If I know where you were born and who your father was, I can predict your lifetime earnings.”

This saying that a dragon cannot rise from a small stream poses a heavy question to contemporary Korean society. Korea is often described as a society where second chances are not available. According to the 2017 OECD report "SME Business Environment," Korea ranked 7th out of 37 countries in the category of "fear of startup failure." In contrast, as of the end of 2017, Silicon Valley in the United States had seven companies with a market capitalization exceeding $100 billion, which is half the size of the global total. This is why it is called a place that "turns a culture of failure into a culture of success."

There are various social and personal reasons mixed in failure. The weight of these reasons varies by person, but Choi Jaecheon, author of Failing Successfully, emphasizes social responsibility. He describes Bill Gates’ statement, “Because I was born on American soil, I could become a leader in the IT industry,” as an “honest confession.” He strongly asserts that young people living in harsh environments bear no responsibility.

However, one cannot just blame society. First, it is necessary to define failure. An important factor to exclude is “comparison.” The author explains that “when I keep comparing instead of setting my own standards,” I become “dwarfed and arrogant.” “When everything is relativized, human life becomes a game,” and one becomes “a slave to the market, living in lifelong competition.”

It is common for failure to become the foundation of success. James Dyson, who created the Dyson vacuum cleaner, produced a prototype after 5,126 failures. The famous story of Edison experiencing 10,000 failures before inventing the light bulb is well known.

The issue is whether society can tolerate and embrace such failures. The author advises to first abandon “perfectionism.” Perfectionism based solely on success is “a failure from the start,” so “you can never be satisfied,” he advises.

Furthermore, the author even says failure is an obligation. “An expert is someone who has made every possible mistake in a very narrow field.” He cites physicist Niels Bohr and filmmaker Woody Allen’s aphorism, “If you’ve never failed, it means you’re not trying anything new.” Referring to Israel’s “chutzpah” spirit, he encourages readers to tell themselves, “So what if I failed? I’ll do better next time. Yes, I will try again.”

Failure can also become success. The morning sickness drug thalidomide caused severe side effects, resulting in over 12,000 birth defects worldwide. It was a thorough failure. However, later new effects were discovered, and in 1998 the U.S. FDA approved thalidomide as a treatment for leprosy complications. It was a moment when failure turned into success. The author explains that through this, one should neither be discouraged by failure nor become arrogant from success.

The author, who served as a member of the 17th and 19th National Assembly and has worked in the legal, political, academic, and cultural fields, currently serves as the lead attorney at Heritage Law Firm. He says he was criticized while writing the book for “appearing to have little experience with failure.” In response, he confesses, “Countless failures I have not yet confessed still torment me.” By some standards (such as becoming a bestseller), this book might be a failure. However, by another standard?if it moved even a single reader?it can be a success. The success of this book depends on the reader.

Failing Successfully | Written by Choi Jaecheon | Minumsa | 256 pages | 14,000 KRW

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.