Entrepreneurs: Stop Fetishizing Failure, Start Asking Absurd Questions

It is becoming an increasingly popular trend in Silicon Valley to place failure on a pedestal. According to author Tim Ferriss, the phrase “fail fast, fail forward” has become a motto, and he is concerned that fetishizing failure as something harmless that only leads upwards can actually be dangerous or deadly in some industries. Instead, Ferriss argues that we should be asking questions that normally would be considered absurd.

He points to billionaire investor Peter Thiel, who looks at a business plan and says to its creator: “Why can’t you accomplish your 10-year plan in the next six months?” Asking seemingly crazy questions, and setting hypothetical limits forces divergent thinking and can prompt you to actually do what once seemed unthinkable.

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