People from all walks of life, especially successful ones, will tell you that failure is always an important element in success. But what if science proves that? Recent research indeed say that failure, specifically successive failures, has a positive effect in humans.

A recent research led by Tom Pohlman, head of strategy and value at Mu Sigma, said that oftentimes, the key to success in business is failing fast. He added that because change in business pace is very fast, companies and the people that run them are under pressure to change and innovate or they will lose.

Adapting to change does not only apply to businesses but to individuals as well. As the cliché goes that the only constant thing in this world is change, each individual is also placed under pressure to change or they will cease to be relevant. In the process of adapting, experimentation happen and this is where failures and mistakes happen.

In an article on BBC, Andrew Filev, CEO and founder of software company Wrike, said that a lot of people still think that failure is a sign of incompetence so they do all their best not to fail. However, Filev said that failure is an inevitable step in the process, especially when building a company.

Filev is, of course, speaking from experience. He recounted how he and his team made a lot of mistakes when building the company. Through the failures, they were able to create better strategies and develop new tools to work better. In addition, they also helped other businesses do better.

Pohlman continued that in order to innovate, failure is necessary. He then likened innovation to a game of darts with a moving dartboard as a target. He said that you are really a good dart thrower or you just have to throw more darts until you hit the target.