It is ingrained in us that failure is bad and we should avoid it all costs, but I don’t believe this is true, why you might ask? Well, let me argue my case.
Without failures, we do not learn - nobody is perfect, and there has never been a perfect project that has ever been run, there will always be something that can be improved, made more efficient etc. If we fail on one project but take learnings and implement them for the next one, then it is not a failure, if you fail, and do not take learnings onto the next project, then it is a failure
Failures show we are human - the best people in history always had something they wish they did better or something they changed that they didn’t, this is the same with projects, we are only human, mistakes will happen, but if we as professionals can identify these failures and change our way of thinking or methods of working to resolve, then this is a positive outcome regardless of the project
Realising that failure is ok makes you take risks - of course, all risks should be carefully considered and mitigate where possible, but the best things in life and the best companies did not come from taking it easy, it is done by taking risks, sometimes they pay off, sometimes they do not, but the urge to succeed is not always risk-free
My advice when taking on a new project, take the risk! Of course, mitigate the risk by putting failsafe’s in place and ensuring the whole team is on board and aware and of course, hold a risk log meeting once per week to catch a failure before it snowballs, but take the risk, the reward may just be worth it!