Fail better

SIR – Linda Blair (Mind Healing, January 22) recommends that failure be welcomed rather than avoided, citing research by university professors in Germany and elsewhere.

Being risk-averse and “succeeding” every time leads to complacency, lowered targets, a reduced capacity for inventiveness and an inability to push the boundaries. Those of us of a certain age know that one learns so much more from a failure than from a success. One learns how to do things better and differently in future.

Today’s younger generation are taught to avoid failure rather than be adventurous and progressive. This is a shame: they should take some risks. However, one mustn’t let failure become a permanent feature. Peter R Brown

Ware, Hertfordshire