fail upwards

present singular third person fails upwards · participle present failing upwards · participle past failed upwards · past failed upwards · alternative fail upward · alternative fail up

1. idiomaticinformalTo advance in one's career despite failure or incompetence.

   Gates himself would move to the White House as deputy national security adviser—in effect, failing upwards.

   2010, Svetlana Savranskaya, Thomas S. Blanton, Vladislav Martinovich Zubok, Masterpieces of History: The Peaceful End of the Cold War in Eastern Europe, Central European University Press, →ISBN, page 261

   3 more examples

   I got trapped in an absurd, "failing upwards" trajectory. Heathers got me work on a bigger film called Ford Fairlane. When that movie failed, I was given a post on an even bigger film, Hudson Hawk. After that one really, really failed, I was rewarded with the assignment of Batman Returns.

   1994, Gail O'Donnell, Michele Travolta, Making it in Hollywood: behind the success of 50 of today's favorite actors, screenwriters, producers, and directors, Sourcebooks, →ISBN, page 139

   In Hollywood, as in many industries, there are countless tales of people who fail upwards. It means that no matter how poorly someone performs with one project, the next one he or she will be given will be significantly greater. If a director makes a flop for $15 million, you can bet the ranch that his next picture deal will be for $25 million.

   1997, Robert A. Berman, Fade in: The Screenwriting Process, M. Wiese Productions, →ISBN, page 216

   He was your standard show business example of failing upwards, and the Postman had no doubts that eventually Goldstone would be running a major Hollywood film studio into receivership.

   2008, William Goldman, Magic: A Novel, Random House Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 107

   Synonyms: fail up the ladder