“It’s ok to fail.”
I was struck when my French friend told me this over coffee in Palo Alto. We had been talking about her husband’s startup company—he was trying to raise new capital, and if he didn’t succeed, his company would run out of money soon.
“It must be stressful,” I said, “not knowing if he’ll be able to keep his company alive.”
“Yes,” she said, “but we’ll be ok if it doesn’t work out. One of the things I’ve learned from living in the United States is that it’s ok to fail. That’s not true in France. There, if you fail you have a black mark that follows you forever.”
Failing in France
I had heard this before, from French friends on both sides of the Atlantic. My wife and I live part of the year in France, and a common subject of conversation is how the two countries compare.
I was reminded of a presentation my wife and I once gave to a group of business teachers in France. We started with short introductions, explaining the different jobs we’ve each had—in finance, marketing, human resources, and more. To our surprise, this got the crowd buzzing. “That would never happen in France,” one declared. “People don’t change careers, it’s just not done.”
This is reflected in the French education system, with its early specialization. Students declare their major before entering university and only take classes in that field of study.
By contrast, the US system is designed to be much broader, and many students don’t declare a major until after one or two years.
Of course, France has its risk-takers—the word entrepreneur is French, after all.
Several of our friends in France have started their own businesses, and companies like Mistral AI are pushing the frontiers of artificial intelligence. But in general, France is a more conservative country than the US. As a French friend once told us, “It’s hard to change things here, because whatever you propose, half of the French will be against it.”
Greener Pastures
This may be why so many talented French head to countries like the US and UK to seek their fortunes—more than 50,000 live near me in California’s Silicon Valley alone. It’s much easier to start a company here, as there’s lots of talent and the venture capital available to Silicon Valley startups dwarfs that in France.
And it’s much easier to fail, which most startups do. But as my French friend has learned, failure here isn’t a black mark: it can actually be a badge of honor. You may have failed, but at least you tried, and you will learn from your mistakes and be better next time.
That freedom to risk and to fail is one reason for the dynamism of the US economy. But it also exacerbates the income inequality that plagues the country. The French approach may limit France’s upside, but the downside is also limited by the country’s commitment to equality and its strong social safety net.
And while the French may be conservative, that conservatism has its advantages. The French preserve their past and celebrate it. They maintain their glorious monuments and—as with Notre Dame—restore them when they are damaged. That’s why Paris is the world’s most beautiful city and France its most popular tourist destination.
Which do you prefer: French conservatism and reverence for the past, or American risk-taking and focus on the future?
Where would you rather live? Where would you rather work?
Image Credits
1. Man: Pixabay royalty-free images
2. Sorbonne: Wikipedia, GNU license, attribution NonOmnisMoriar
3. Whiteboard: Pixabay royalty-free images
4. Notre Dame: Wikipedia, Creative Commons license, attribution Peter Haas
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This certainly mirrors my experience in France. I have a friend who went back to school in her 50s in France. She wanted to change careers. She lasted less than a year. She was always the oldest person in her classes, and she never felt welcomed or encouraged. She dropped out. It's easy to choose a career in France, especially non-academic careers, but very hard to change. I do know one person, though, who was an international banker and became a psychotherapist, so it is possible, just not easy or common.