Failure is something that we’ve been penalized for our entire lives. If we failed a test in school our grade was affected in a negative way, the teacher’s attitude towards us changed, and our parents “had a word with us�.
By being scorned for failure we develop a fear of it. We play it safe. Do things that we know will work or have worked before. All of our choices are made to avoid failure at all costs.
And it’s a shame that we’re taught to develop such an attitude; such a fear.
Thomas Edison understood the importance of failure:
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.â€?
Another group that understands and appreciates failure is Wieden + Kennedy. They’re an ad agency that’s based in Portland, Oregon and has made Nike the behemoth it is today.
They offer a program called the wk12. It’s a yearly educational experience where a group of a dozen accepted students from all walks of life learn the ins and outs of the ad business, and more importantly, how to question the norm.
That group is making their rounds in the blogosphere as a result of a masterpiece they constructed. It took 350 hours, 150,000 clear push pins, $720, a blank canvas wall, and an admiration of failure.
In the end, they had this monumental art piece. A piece that should be appreciated for it’s message as much as the amount of work that went into its creation.
Here’s a link for the video if you can’t see it below.
“Fail harder.� A simple yet powerful message that most people fear every moment of their lives.
I’ve failed in many ventures I’ve taken on, tasks I’ve tried to tackle, and goals that I set for myself. And I’m glad I did. Those failures have helped me understand what works, what doesn’t, and why everything ended up the way it did. You could never gain that experience or understand the elements of life if you haven’t failed.
Mark Cuban said something to the effect of, “you only have to be right once�. The one time he was right made him a multi-billionaire. But to pull that jackpot he had to fail. Over and over and over. That taught him everything that eventually led to his time of glory.
So go out there and fail to your heart’s content. Don’t be hard on yourself if a company or project wasn’t your time to be right. It’ll happen, as long as you keep going, trying new things, challenging standards, and embracing failure as an integral part of the process of business and life.
“Fail harder.�
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