Episode 2: “Brick by Brick: How Failure Built Rebecca’s Resilience, Leadership & Curiosity”

The Show

Most of what holds us back isn’t real—it’s just the way we’ve been taught to see things. Welcome to The Failosophy Show, where we stop letting old stories about success and failure define us. Because when you change how you think, you take control—not just of what’s possible, but of who you become.

The Guest

Meet Rebecca Tisdale—learning and development maestro, corporate soothsayer, and, someone who's spent nearly two decades deciphering how to make people actually enjoy learning in challenging circumstances. No small feat, that.

Rebecca is the kind of operator who’s worked the full spectrum, from tech titans to a certain toy retailer that shall remain nameless—though let’s just say she’s built her career, quite literally, brick by brick.

But today, we’re peeling back the layers, getting under the corporate veneer to unearth something deeper—her philosophy on failure. Because, let’s face it, if you’ve spent years training, coaching, and leading teams, you’ve seen your fair share of setbacks.

The Journey

Failure, to Rebecca, is less a foe, more an inevitability—like bad weather on a long journey. You prepare for it, you learn to navigate it, and at some point, you stop cursing the rain and start appreciating what it teaches you about shelter.

She didn’t always see it that way. Young Rebecca? A mistake wasn’t just a misstep; it was a courtroom verdict, a neon sign flashing “Not Good Enough.” But time has a way of softening the edges, rubbing away the sting. Now? Failure is the undercurrent of her craft—learning and development—a field that exists precisely because humans are fallible, messy creatures who need the space to fail, recover, and try again.

Her evolution has been a slow burn, shifting from the rigid perfectionism of early career anxiety to something more forgiving. More strategic. She sees failure not as an end, but as a detour—sometimes frustrating, often illuminating. Some failures, she’s realised, aren’t failures at all. Just paths she hadn’t planned to take.

Now she’s the mentor she once wished for. The reassuring voice in the ear of the anxious apprentice, the one who says, “It’s okay to get it wrong, as long as you stay in the game.” Whether she’s guiding engineers afraid of making mistakes or retail teams rediscovering the art of play, the principle is the same—adaptability is the great equaliser.

She’s stood at the top of the corporate ladder and found, that those at the summit don’t have all the answers either. They’re just people, making it up as they go. And perhaps that’s the final truth about failure—it’s not a wall. It’s a door. You just have to be brave enough to walk through it.

The Formula

As a recap, here's the Failosophy Formula:

This formula breaks failure into five elements: ambition, energy, expectations, adaptability, and emotion. It helps us understand why failure happens and how to minimise its impact or risk.

Failure (Impact or Risk) = (((Ambition × Energy) × Expectation) / Adaptability) × Emotion

Failure. It once loomed over Rebecca like a menacing headmaster. But over time, the fear softened, the perspective shifted. Now? Now failure is the unwelcome but oddly instructive companion—an old friend who never arrives at a good time but always leaves behind something useful. Her journey, mapped through the Failosophy Formula, is a study in evolution, resilience, and the slow, unglamorous work of unlearning perfectionism.

Ambition: From Approval to Purpose

Young Rebecca’s ambition was textbook corporate climber—do good, be seen, avoid mistakes. The kind of ambition that feeds on validation, where success is measured in nods from superiors and promotions on the ladder. But as time wore on, as the titles stacked up, something changed. She no longer saw ambition as a desperate reach for approval but as something more personal, more expansive. Now, ambition is about impact—about shaping environments where failure isn’t a sackable offence but a learning mechanism. It’s no longer about being the best in the room; it’s about making the room a place where people dare to learn out loud.

Energy: From Anxiety to Investment

Early career energy? A nervous, caffeine-fuelled hum. A need to be perfect, to pre-empt failure before it arrived. But here’s the thing about trying not to fail—it takes up a colossal amount of mental space. These days, Rebecca has traded frenetic for focused. Instead of pouring energy into prevention, she invests it into recovery, adaptation, and teaching others to do the same. Whether it’s mentoring junior employees or shaping learning cultures, her energy is no longer reactive—it’s constructive.

Expectations: From Calamity to Course Correction

Once, failure was a sign of incompetence, an embarrassment. The kind of thing that stuck in your throat for days. Now, failure is a detour, not a dead end. She’s learned that sometimes failure isn’t failure at all—just a shift in trajectory. The engineering apprentices she’s mentored? The ones terrified of getting something wrong in a high-stakes, high-voltage world? She’s helped them see mistakes as learning moments rather than irreversible disasters. The truth is, the more control you try to exert, the heavier the weight of failure. The key is fluidity—learning to adjust course rather than trying to force a perfect one.

Adaptability: The Great Leveller

This is where Rebecca has done her deepest work. If there’s a theme in her journey, it’s this: Adapt, or get buried under the weight of the what-ifs. She’s moved between industries, companies, leadership styles. Tech firms, retail giants, fast-paced L&D environments—it’s all required adaptation, flexibility, and an unlearning of rigid thinking. The breakthrough? Realising that even at the highest levels, no one really knows precisely what they’re doing. Leadership isn’t about certainty—it’s about learning faster than the chaos around you.

Emotion: Self-Criticism to Self-Compassion

Once, failure would sit in her chest like a heavy stone. The sting of a misstep, the sharp heat of embarrassment—it all lasted longer than it needed to. But as she’s grown, so has her emotional resilience. She’s learned to be kinder to herself, to see mistakes as part of the process rather than a personal indictment. And she’s made it her mission to pass that on. Because if there’s one thing failure feeds on, it’s shame—and the moment you strip it of that, it loses its power.

Final Thought: The Rewriting of a Relationship

Rebecca’s evolution isn’t about learning to love failure—it’s about learning to live with it. To use it rather than fear it. To create spaces where others can fail safely, learn quickly, and recover stronger. She’s gone from fearing the fall to teaching others how to land well. And in the end, maybe that’s what leadership really is.

The Failosophy

Failure. It’s a stubborn old beast, isn’t it? Always lurking, waiting for its moment, usually when you’re already on shaky ground. But Rebecca? She’s spent a career learning to tame it—transforming it from a looming disaster into something far more useful: a guide, a teacher, a crucial stepping stone. Here’s how she’s done it, and how you can too.

Tip: The Reframing Reflex – Not Failure, Just a Different Route

Challenge: Young Rebecca took failure hard. A mistake wasn’t just an error; it was a personal indictment. She’d internalise every misstep, seeing it as a sign she wasn’t good enough. It slowed her down, drained her energy, and made her wary of taking risks.

Rebecca’s Response: She learned to reframe failure—not as a dead-end, but as a redirection. Some failures, she realised, aren’t failures at all—just unexpected detours that still lead somewhere valuable. A project that doesn’t go to plan? A learning curve. A missed opportunity? A chance to refocus.

Application: Next time failure lands in your lap, stop. Breathe. Then ask: What is this failure trying to teach me? Instead of treating it as a final verdict, treat it as feedback—a sign pointing you in a new direction. Failure isn’t the opposite of success; it’s part of the journey towards it.

Tool: The Confidence Mirror – Normalising Failure in Leadership

Challenge: Rebecca worked with engineers dealing in life-or-death stakes—literally. High-voltage generators, security systems, precision-based work. One mistake, and the consequences were severe. This created paralysis—people were too scared to act, terrified of messing up.

Rebecca’s Response: She introduced leadership podcasts where senior figures shared their failures openly. The goal? To humanise failure at the top level. When apprentices heard VPs admitting to past missteps, it changed the game. The fear of failure loosened its grip.

Application: Create safe spaces for failure discussions. If you lead a team, make sure they hear about your past failures and how you grew from them. If you’re part of a team, start conversations—ask your mentors what they’ve learned from their biggest mistakes. Confidence grows when failure is normalised.

Technique: The “What If” Experiment – Playing with Possibilities

Challenge: In the corporate world, ideas often get suffocated under the weight of "what if this goes wrong?" Fear of failure stifles innovation. Rebecca saw this first-hand in rigid corporate environments, where people were hesitant to push boundaries.

Rebecca’s Response: At LEGO, she tapped into childlike curiosity—encouraging employees to think with a “What if it worked?” mindset instead. The key was structured experimentation—low-risk, high-creativity exercises where failure was built into the process.

Application: When facing a risky decision, flip the script: instead of asking “What if I fail?”, ask “What if this works?” Set up small experiments where you test ideas without major consequences. It could be a pilot project, a prototype, or just a brainstorming session with zero judgment.

Final Thought: Fail Fast, Fail Smart, Fail Forward

Rebecca’s evolution isn’t about avoiding failure—it’s about learning to use it. With the right tools, failure stops being an anchor and starts being a launchpad. The trick is not to fear it, but to harness it—to build resilience, sharpen adaptability, and, most importantly, keep moving forward.

The Framework

Failure isn’t the enemy—it’s the process. But most people spend their lives running from it, letting fear dictate their choices. The Fear to Freedom Framework lays out the five stages of that journey—from avoiding failure entirely to using it as fuel. It’s not about making failure painless; it’s about making it useful. Wherever you are on the path, this framework helps you move forward—because staying stuck is the only real failure.

If Rebecca Tisdale’s journey tells us anything, it’s that failure, far from being a dead-end, is merely the rough terrain on the road to mastery.

So, wherever you are within the Fear to Freedom Framework, here’s a nugget of Rebecca’s wisdom to guide your way.

Avoidance Stage: When You’re Stuck at the Edge, Terrified to Move

Insight: Everyone’s Making It Up as They Go Along

Rebecca, once a newcomer in a corporate world she was desperate to impress, used to take failure personally. A mistake wasn’t just a misstep; it was a flashing neon sign that she wasn’t good enough. But then—after years of climbing the ranks—she had a revelation: no one actually knows what they’re doing all the time. Even at the highest levels, even the C-suite folks—the ones who look like they’ve got it all figured out? They’re winging it too.

What this means for you: If fear is keeping you frozen, remember this—there is no mythical realm of “perfectly competent” people where no one makes mistakes. Everyone is learning on the job. Everyone. Including you. Take the step.

Awareness Stage: When Fear Hits Like a Storm, Knocking You Off Course

Insight: Reframe Failure as a New Route, Not a Wrong Turn

Rebecca’s career wasn’t a neat, linear march to success. It zigged. It zagged. It bumped into walls and took unexpected detours. But she learned something crucial: sometimes, what looks like failure is just a shift in direction. A project that flops? It’s an education. A missed opportunity? A different door opening.

What this means for you: If you’ve been knocked sideways, take a moment. Breathe. Instead of spiralling into self-criticism, ask: What if this is actually the best thing that could have happened? Train yourself to see failure not as an ending, but as a new possibility waiting to be explored.

Engagement Stage: When You’re Tentatively Testing the Waters

Insight: Safe-to-Fail Spaces Make All the Difference

Rebecca understood that fear isn’t eradicated—it’s managed. When working with young engineers handling high-voltage, high-stakes systems, she noticed that fear made them tentative. And hesitation in that environment? Dangerous. So, she introduced VR simulations—a safe space to fail. Here, they could make mistakes without consequence, learn from them, and grow confident before facing the real deal.

What this means for you: Want to get better at something, but fear of failure is keeping you from going all in? Create your own safe-to-fail environment. Run small-scale experiments. Try a low-stakes version first. Ease in before you go full tilt. Learning in controlled chaos makes real-world chaos far easier to navigate.

Integration Stage: When You Start Owning the Risk and Push Boundaries

Insight: Play, Explore, and Stay Curious

At LEGO, Rebecca witnessed a different approach to learning and risk-taking. Here, creativity wasn’t just encouraged—it was essential. The company’s philosophy? Be curious. Be bold. Be brave. And the best way to do that? Play. Adults, weighed down by structure and expectation, forget that play is a valid form of exploration. LEGO knew that play rekindles curiosity—and curiosity fuels innovation.

What this means for you: If you’re at a stage where you’re ready to take risks but aren’t sure where to begin, start with curiosity. Ask questions. Tinker. Try things just for the sake of it. Break out of rigid thought patterns and allow yourself to play—creatively, mentally, and professionally. Growth doesn’t always have to be a gruelling climb; sometimes, it can be an adventure.g you. The next step? Stop resisting. Accept the lesson, integrate it, and move.

Mastery Stage: When You Trust Yourself Enough to Leap

Insight: Fear Doesn’t Disappear—You Just Learn to Move With It

Rebecca doesn’t claim to be fearless. That’s not the goal. Fear is always there. Even when you’ve reached the top, even when you’ve got years of experience behind you. But by now, she understands that fear is not a stop sign—it’s just a companion on the road. The key is to keep moving anyway.

What this means for you: True freedom isn’t the absence of fear; it’s the ability to act despite it. You will never feel 100% ready. You will never have a risk-free path. So what? Do it anyway. Take the leap. Fear will ride shotgun—but it doesn’t get to take the wheel.

Final Thought: Walk Forward Even if Your Knees Shake

Wherever you are on this journey—from paralysed by fear to embracing your freedom—the only thing that matters is that you keep moving. Even if it’s slow. Even if it’s messy. Even if you stumble.

Because the truth is, failure is inevitable—but stagnation? That’s optional.

The Quotes

On Exploring Failure as a Key to Growth

"I think failure is a part of life. It's a part of the learning curve of life."

"Sometimes the failure might not be a failure. Sometimes things might just divert down a different path to how you intended it."

"We all want to succeed and we all try our best at what we do. But we do have to admit that failure is a part of that journey."

On Staying Resilient and Adaptable When Things Don’t Go as Planned

"As you get to more senior roles in a company, you realise that those at the top don’t really know what they’re doing either. We’re all trying to figure it out."

"It used to hit me really hard and I used to take it really to heart... but then as I’ve got older, I’ve learned to be more forgiving to myself."

On Embracing Failure as a Normal and Valuable Part of Life

"Helping leaders lead better... not doing it from a high up-down perspective, but doing it more of ‘roll your sleeves up and get involved with your team, help them on their journey.’"

On Encouraging a Fuller Exploration of Life’s Possibilities

"Children have that mentality of curiosity, being brave, being bold. And as adults, somewhere along the way, we’ve lost a lot of that."

"It really helped to give people that essence of the bigger part of the picture that they're contributing to."

The Future

Hope you enjoyed this edition of The Failosopher. Look out for the upcoming shows, featuring guests including Kelly, who sees failure as the blueprint for building identity, resilience, and a purposeful life; James, who, after numerous boardroom battles, brought Malibu and Baileys Irish Cream to our shores; Konrad, who overcame international prejudice to become a trailblazer in British skiing; and Alex, who was forced to recalibrate his expectations after failing one of the most challenging entrance exams for a prestigious business school. All this and more to come!

Phew. That’s a wrap on this edition of the Failosopher (Guest) Edition. Take care. Chris.

Links

Listen to this episode of the Failosophy Show Podcast

Visit the Failosophy Show Website

Visit Rebecca’s LinkedIn Profile Page