Trying Over Triumph: Michael Jordan’s Failure Ethic
I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying. — Michael Jordan
Effort Over Outcome: The Core Message
Jordan’s line draws a firm boundary: outcomes can be forgiven; refusal to act cannot. This ethic reframes failure from a verdict into a data point, insisting that the only true deficit is the absence of an attempt. By shifting worth from winning to willingness, the quote moves us from fear of embarrassment to a commitment to engagement—where the first step, however small, is the decisive one.
Jordan’s Case Study: Cut, Misses, and Momentum
The ethos is autobiographical. As a sophomore at Laney High in Wilmington, North Carolina, Jordan didn’t make varsity, so he sharpened his game on junior varsity—scoring relentlessly and training obsessively. Years later, he narrated the arc in Nike’s “Failure” ad (1997): “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots… lost almost 300 games… 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed.” The refrain’s punchline—“And that is why I succeed”—shows how missed attempts became momentum. His example invites a broader look at why trying, not tallying, fuels growth.
The Science of Trying: Mindset, Grit, Practice
Psychology clarifies the mechanism. Carol Dweck’s Mindset (2006) distinguishes a growth mindset—skills as developable—from a fixed one; the former converts failure into feedback. Angela Duckworth’s Grit (2016) adds sustained effort as a predictor of achievement, while Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool’s Peak (2016) explains how deliberate practice targets weaknesses, turning mistakes into mastery. Together, these findings illuminate Jordan’s stance: effort is not a consolation prize; it is the engine of improvement.
Regret and Risk: The Hidden Cost of Inaction
If trying is costly, not trying is costlier. Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky (1979) showed that loss aversion biases us toward safety, yet Thomas Gilovich and Victoria Medvec (1995) found that, over time, people regret inactions more than actions. Echoing this, Jeff Bezos described a “regret minimization framework” in early Amazon letters—choosing paths that reduce future “what ifs.” Thus, Jordan’s intolerance for not trying is a rational antidote to long-term regret.
Designing for Attempts: From Labs to Startups
Organizations can institutionalize Jordan’s ethic. The Lean Startup cycle—build, measure, learn (Ries, 2011)—treats each release as a reversible bet, encouraging many small tries over one giant leap. IDEO’s rapid prototyping culture (Kelley & Littman, The Art of Innovation, 2001) similarly lowers the cost of iteration. Meanwhile, A/B testing in tech operationalizes learning through controlled attempts, ensuring that failure informs strategy rather than ending it.
Failing Well: Converting Setbacks into Insight
Trying works when we structure the aftermath. Gary Klein’s pre-mortems (2007) anticipate failure modes before launch, softening the landing. Amy Edmondson’s research on psychological safety (1999) shows teams learn faster when members can surface errors without fear. Even creative “attempt quotas”—popularized by Bayles and Orland’s Art & Fear (1993)—prove that quantity breeds quality. In practice, the habit is simple: set process goals, review attempts, and extract one lesson per miss.
From Slogan to Habit: A Daily Translation
Finally, the quote becomes practical through routine. Define a small, testable attempt each day; make the feedback visible; and iterate before judging. Over weeks, the compounding effect shifts identity from “someone who hopes” to “someone who tries.” In that shift, Jordan’s intolerance for inaction turns from a poster-worthy line into a pattern of life—where failure teaches, and trying, repeated, triumphs.