You have an obligation to fail, if you work in the charitable sector.
The issues you tackle in this field - quality of life, poverty, violence, civic society - are huge. Failing means you tried.
As important as it is, we aren't very good at talking about failure. Grantmakers and donors ask for success stories. The public looks for heroes. We're afraid that if we report a failure donor dollars will flee elsewhere - a different charity, a different cause. Success begets success.
Except too much "success" can be a bad thing. Because it means we didn't try something new, didn't take a risk, didn't explore. The issues we work on are too important for that.
Sometimes the people who try the hardest to succeed are the ones who need to be reminded that it's time to get out there and fail.