Recently I had a (third) chance to attend the musical Hamilton. It is a remarkable production, all the more so because it manages to weave a compelling story of love, loss, success, failure, growth, and a myriad of other experiences that make up a lifetime, all wrapped around the story of the founding history of the United States.
In the original cast production, the role of Aaron Burr was played by Leslie Odom Jr., and in a moment of inspiration I read his book Failing Up: How to Take Risks, Aim Higher, and Never Stop Learning. It is a biography of his own origin story, including his successes, missteps, how he came to play the role, and of interest to me, his notion of what success means. Although he makes no effort to compare himself to Alexander Hamilton, the parallels are evident. The ability to use a setback as motivation to move forward is the mark of someone who can use failure as a means to success. Failure of this stripe means taking responsibility for one's own career path, and involves a commitment to learning and self reflection.
There is of course another way to fail up. People who are competent in their job get promoted to a higher position only to find that they have risen to their level of incompetence because they don't have the training or temperament to do the work. The typical example is the line worker that gets promoted to supervisor, despite never having developed the necessary skills to manage people. Known as the Peter Principle, the theory suggests that people assume if someone can do one thing well, they can manage others to do that one thing well as well. Often that just isn't the case.
If you're not oblivious to your own shortcomings, and you have the capacity to learn and grow, you needn't worry about failing up from the Peter Principle. Set your sights on failing up through your own efforts.
Before there was Leslie, before Alexander, and before a long list of others in history, there was Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, emperor of Rome from 161 to 180 CE. He was a philosopher known for expounding on the subject of Stoicism, a philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium around 300 BCE. Marcus Aurelius believed that one should control what they can, and accept what they can't. Focus on your own abilities, actions, and character, and disregard external events and outcomes that are beyond your control. Practice virtue, cultivate moral excellence, and value wisdom, courage, and justice. Sound thinking.
From his book Meditations:
"Our actions may be impeded... but there can be no impeding our intentions or dispositions. Because we can accommodate and adapt. The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting. The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way."
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Marcus Aurelius. Meditations. Trans. Gregory Hays, Modern Library, 2002. Book 5, Chapter 20.