Failure Is Not An Option…It’s a Requirement!
Writing by Darrin Dickey on Wednesday, 19 of September , 2007 at 9:17 am
Growing up I remember my father telling me that it was OK to make mistakes as long as I learned from them. But in the process of growing up I learned to be risk averse. It was easier to do what I knew was safe than to take a chance on failing. Failure is at best embarrassing and at worst painful.
Luckily, a few years ago a mentor drove it into my head that failure is not just an option, it is required to work for him (which I did). We’re human and we’re going to make mistakes if we’re doing anything at all. If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not really doing anything. And if you try things that are out of the ordinary or push the edges, you’re going to fail…big time. The key, as both this mentor and my father taught me, is for your failures to be non-fatal and that you learn from them so you don’t repeat them.
Just remember, you’re more likely to stumble and fall if you’re running toward something than if you’re sitting in one spot. You’re also more likely to actually get somewhere.
Do you encourage your team (or yourself) to accept failure?
Category: Lessons Learned, Personal Observations
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