Failcamp embraces failure, with an eye toward success
A hundred people from Montreal’s business community gathered in downtown Montreal Friday afternoon to talk about failure.
The occasion was the fifth annual Failcamp, a half-day conference devoted to falling on your face.
“We want to give an opportunity to people who have tried things, who have tried to change the world, to talk about times when it hasn’t been easy,” said event co-founder Francis Gosselin, of Groupe Sage Consulting. “The idea is talk about failure to see how we can succeed collectively. In a system, some projects are destined to fail. It happens often with people and companies that are innovating and offering new products and services. As (Thomas) Edison said, ‘I haven’t failed, I’ve found 10,000 ways that don’t work.’ ”
And while eight out of 10 businesses fail in their first 18 months, such failures are part of the fabric of a thriving economy, Gosselin argued, and can be a sign that things are going well.
“We can’t chastise people who try and don’t succeed,” he said. “We should celebrate them. The other 364 days of the year we give prizes to entrepreneurs and athletes, and spend time congratulating ourselves. We forget that a super important part of the system is people who don’t succeed; we learn from those stories.”
The conference began with a presentation by Shopify design director Cynthia Savard- Saucier, author of Tragic Design: The Impact of Bad Product Design and How to Fix It. Weaving together anecdotes and concrete examples of design train wrecks, she put the onus on designers to consider all ways in which their product might be used, misused and misunderstood.
Étienne Crevier, founder and director of Biogeniq, referenced the death of his father from a heart attack as an example of a failure of medicine to address people’s individual differences — something his company tries to do by assessing their genetic makeup. He then elaborated on learning to listen to his inner voice on his road to success as an entrepreneur.
The afternoon was to wrap up with a talk by Patrick Rozon, the new vice-president of francophone content at Juste Pour Rire.
Standouts of past editions have included Mitsou Gélinas, Andy Nulman and Alexandre Taillefer.
“Mitsou was a Quebec superstar (when she was young),” Gosselin said. “Then at one point her career went up in smoke, she got scammed by her agent and lost all her money. She went from hero to zero in two months. She had nothing, her career was over at 20. It was time to rebuild.”
Mitsou was brought to tears when talking about the moment where things turned around for her, Gosselin related.
“She got a $20,000 loan, which allowed her to re-launch her business. Now she has an audio-visual production company with over 100 employees. Even today, she said it’s going well but they still make mistakes, despite their success.”
Nulman preached the value of flying by the seat of your pants and putting yourself in situations where you’re uncomfortable, which has led to a mix of failures and extraordinary experiences, Gosselin recounted, while Taillefer opened up about the suicide of his son.
“It’s not just professional and about innovation, it’s often personal, about how people have lived and reacted to things,” he said. “These days the line between the personal and professional is not clear-cut. We don’t punch out. People often say they regret neglecting their family or not spending more time with their kids.”
Gosselin points to the value of failure when advising clients. He also speaks regularly at schools, urging children to not be afraid of making mistakes.
He hopes Failcamp gives attendees a philosophical view of the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, and life.
“It’s more about a mindset than learning specific things,” he said. “I hope people leave wanting to try new things, and not being afraid of exploring domains they’re less confident in. The take-away is to fall on your face on purpose; if you’re ready for it, it doesn’t hurt as much.”
We forget that a super important part of the system is people who don’t succeed; we learn from those stories.