Success feels good. We celebrate it, post about it, and put it in our portfolios. But if you ask me, success is a terrible teacher.

Failure? That’s where the real lessons hide.

This isn’t motivational fluff. It’s practical truth for designers, entrepreneurs, and creators: the projects that collapse, the clients that walk away, the websites that never launch those moments teach you ten times more than the ones that go “perfectly.”

Here’s why:

1. Success Lies to You

When a project works, you often don’t know why. Was it your design? Was it timing? Was it pure luck? Success hides the weak spots because it gives you no reason to question yourself.

Failure, on the other hand, shines a floodlight on what went wrong. You can’t ignore it. You’re forced to look at:

• Did you manage the client poorly?

• Did you overpromise?

• Was the design trendy but not functional?

2. Failure Builds Scar Tissue

Successful projects rarely change you. Failed ones harden you.

When a client cancels mid-project, you learn how to structure better contracts.
When a website crashes after launch, you learn about backups and maintenance.
When a design is rejected, you learn to detach your ego from your work.

Success comforts you. Failure transforms you.

3. Failure Exposes Process Gaps

Designers often think their work is about creativity, but it’s also about systems: briefs, timelines, feedback loops. Failed projects show where your systems are weak.

For example:

• A client ignores your emails → You realize you never set communication boundaries.

• Too many revisions → You realize your design brief was vague.

• Project drags on → You realize you didn’t define milestones clearly.

Every failure leaves a breadcrumb trail to follow.

4. Failure Builds Emotional Discipline

One of the hardest skills in creative work is resilience. You can’t learn that from success.

• Failure teaches you patience.

• Failure teaches you to separate self-worth from work output.

• Failure teaches you that one bad project isn’t the end, it’s just another lesson.

5. Failure Prepares You for Bigger Success

The irony? The people with the most successful careers usually carry a graveyard of failed projects behind them. They just don’t talk about it.

Those failures trained them to handle high-pressure situations, negotiate better, and make smarter creative choices.

The Controversial Take

I’ll say it outright: if your portfolio is full of only “perfect” projects, you’re probably not growing fast enough.

The designers, entrepreneurs, and businesses that truly scale are the ones willing to fail publicly, learn, and try again.

Playing it safe might save you embarrassment, but it will rob you of growth.

How I’ve Lived This

As a web and graphic designer, my best lessons didn’t come from projects that went smoothly. They came from:

• A client who rejected 6 logo drafts and left. (Lesson: refine my discovery process.)

• A website that broke after a plugin update. (Lesson: offer maintenance plans.)

• A design that looked beautiful but performed terribly in conversions. (Lesson: prioritize function over trends.)

Every mistake I made became a rule in my system today. My failures built my process.

Stop worshipping success. It’s a shallow teacher.

The projects that embarrass you, frustrate you, or force you back to the drawing board, those are the ones that shape your craft, your discipline, and your career.

Next time a project fails, don’t hide it. Study it. Squeeze every lesson out of it. That’s how you grow.