By Matthew Egan
In today’s AI-driven economy, mastering failure is becoming as critical as mastering success. Matthew Egan highlights how embracing setbacks accelerates learning and drives innovation. He explains why leaders who cultivate resilience, adaptability, and iterative thinking will transform challenges into strategic advantages, positioning themselves to thrive in the age of AI.
Everyone is asking what it takes to succeed in the age of AI. The better question is: what does it take to fail? With more ideas generated at a lightning pace, and feedback being instant and relentless, the ability to embrace and learn from failure may be the most valuable human skill of all.
Get Used to Being Wrong
I recently prepared a brief for senior leaders on a promising market opportunity. It was well-structured, filled with facts, and persuasive. Or so I thought. Before submitting it, I decided to ask Microsoft Copilot to act as my reviewer:
“Identify any errors in logical reasoning, assertions missing support, weak arguments, counter perspectives, or other problems with this brief.”
The result? Three pages explaining why I was wrong. My grammar, my evidence, my thesis – everything was questioned, and convincingly so.
This simple experience shows both the power of AI as well as an important challenge we will all need to face. On the plus side, I had received in a matter of seconds what would otherwise have taken weeks or never surfaced at all. Had I asked colleagues to review my brief it would have taken time, they wouldn’t have done the same depth of research, and then they may have been too polite to point out weaknesses.
The challenge however was that I now had reams of feedback I hadn’t expected. My initial response: co-pilot is wrong! However, after accepting my first attempt as a setback and going through a few iterations, the result was sharper and more persuasive than I could have achieved alone.
But to get this result two things needed to come together: the power of AI to rapidly reason over my content, and my willingness to receive feedback and iterate. To adapt.
Iteration: The Gift and the Curse
Iteration and persistence have long been the sources of true innovation. Look behind most major achievements and you will find multiple earlier versions, failures if you will, that delivered the feedback needed to make the next version better. Edison’s lightbulb famously took thousands of failed attempts. WD40, the universal lubricant, got its name by being the successful formula after 39 previous attempts.
AI is supercharging this process. I am seeing customers test multiple product variations a day, a process that previously would have taken weeks. Executives are modelling new strategies in minutes.
But an overlooked effect of this increase in speed and volume of iteration is that the reject pile is much bigger. We are suddenly exposed to endless and instant feedback about what doesn’t work and why but our ability to accept feedback and adapt is not developing at the same pace. A recent MIT study[1] found that resistance to adopting new tools was the top barrier to realising the benefits of AI in the enterprise.
The Real Challenge: Managing Fear, Not Technology
So, in an AI-driven era where information is available to all, your ideas can be instantly tested, and feedback is fast-flowing, the true differentiator will be how you respond to failure. Common human responses are:
- Avoidance – dodging challenges to avoid failure.
- Paralysis – getting stuck in endless analysis chasing perfection.
- Defensiveness – blaming others to protect ego.
- Catastrophising – treating setbacks as final defeat.
These responses are not new, but just as AI aids in triggering these responses, it will also magnify the impact. You will experience more setbacks and feel more inadequate which will only strengthen the fear response. Add to this mix the general air of uncertainty and doubt that AI is generating in the workplace and you have the perfect recipe for inertia and stagnation. And with exponential gains available to those embracing and working with the technology, the gap between the top and bottom performers will be unprecedented.
Turning Setbacks into Strategic Advantage
Nobody can predict the precise direction of the technology, know the technical skills required for the next 10 years or even choose a job that is “AI proof”. But what you can do is arm yourself with the mindset and behaviours to make the most of whatever comes.
Put simply, the faster you accept failure, the faster you will learn.
From my experience advising executives, and researching my recent book, four practices will be key to success in the age of AI:
- Expect the mess – things will go wrong, at first. If you plan for perfection, you leave no room for learning. Treat early setbacks as part of the process, not proof of inadequacy. This mindset is critical in both your personal use of AI but also in putting it to work for your business.
- Embrace failure as feedback – there is a learning in every setback. With AI accelerating the loop you can learn much more, much faster. Leaders who embrace this in their processes and their attitude will progress faster.
- Focus on momentum, not just outcomes – measure progress by the distance travelled, the experiments run, the insights gained, not just the end outcome. In a fast-moving world expect the goal posts to change.
- Create the right team conditions – teams thrive when they feel stretched but not paralysed. Creating a space where setbacks are expected but standards are not lowered requires open dialogue and empathy. Everyone is learning to adapt and acknowledging that can make all the difference.
Fail faster, learn smarter
As we pursue the potential of AI, failure is inevitable. The leaders who will thrive aren’t those who avoid it, but those who learn from it at speed. The question is: will you let failure stop you—or make it your advantage?
Matthew Egan
