A little-known business consultant became an overnight sensation in the ’80s by writing a book featuring the best-run companies in America. Today, most of those companies don’t exist. That’s not surprising. This “go-go” period, as it was called, was the spawning ground for a lot of the workplace dysfunction we’re facing today.

In those days managers were taught that persistence paid off. The most dynamic of these creative risk takers were called “champions.” They kept pushing their ideas until, eventually, they got results. But this “ready, fire, aim” philosophy also encouraged risk taking without due diligence regarding the consequences of failure.

Failure, in and of itself, is not dysfunctional. It’s the way respondents react to failure that determines its functionality. In some corporate cultures, failure is not tolerated. In others, it is an expected part of success. When your success depends upon your own efforts, much of your willingness to risk depends upon your view of failure. In a dysfunctional setting, you might be tempted to limit the negative potential of failing by limiting your efforts to succeed. Obviously, that is counterproductive. If you’re going to succeed, you need to learn how to safely confront failure.

Confronting failure allows you to learn from it and overcome the emotions surrounding it so it doesn’t get in your way. The process also helps you to manage in a positive way, even when the surrounding culture is dysfunctional.

What do you do when faced with a difficult decision? You probably try to minimize the risk of being wrong by gathering as much information as you can before you act. What happens when time constraints limit the amount of information you can access? Making decisions with limited information is risky.

When the degree of risk is very high and you can’t get enough feedback to minimize it, you may put off making the decision until you have more information. If the decision is of little consequence and the degree of risk low, you may feel safe acting on the limited information.

The functionality or dysfunctionality of an organization depends upon how the people in the organization react to failure, serve customers, treat mistakes, handle complaints, create ideas, manage growth, and view success. If you’re trying to succeed within a dysfunctional workplace, bear in mind that you’ll be upsetting the status quo and going against an established norm. All is not lost, however. Use the following principles to guide your actions:

– Think of risk as a means of measuring the value of your commitment. You risk failure whenever you commit yourself to a purpose. You risk losing support from others when you act on your own set of goals.

– Look on failure as part of the learning process. You’ll fail many times. Examine the cause and try to avoid similar mistakes in the future. Adopt the no-big-deal philosophy. When one thing doesn’t work, don’t give up—try something else. 

– Have a strong belief in yourself and trust that what you do is right for you. You may have faults (which others will quickly point out), but as a whole person no one is better than you are. Maintain faith in your own worth and value.

– Don’t waste time on negative people. You’ll feel good about yourself when others hold you in high esteem. Do what you believe in, and others will believe in you. Trust in others and they’ll support you.

– Don’t compromise your values. Hold yourself up and treat yourself well. You deserve it.