This is idea #6 from Weird Ideas That Work. Unfortunately, even though there is massive evidence that innovation is impossible without action, that no learning or creativity is possible without failure either, we have entered an era of fear. I feel it everywhere, in every industry, even among the companies and people who are riding out the bad times well. The unstated motto these days is "Reward Success and Inaction, Punish Failure." This is a perfect recipe for REAL failure. It seems that trying and failing are now out of fashion. I am not saying urging people to take risks that are too big, as Diego says, you need a place and a time for failing. Just as I have argued about the virtues of small wins, I believe that one of the keys to getting out of this mess if for all of us to find ways to accept and learn from small loses.
It is worth remembering research on difference between the most creative and successful people versus their more ordinary peers. Einstein and da Vinci had more bad ideas than their peers. Babe Ruth struck out more. That is because they acted, failed, learned, and kept moving forward.
As I wrote here about 18 months ago:
"U.C. Davis Professor Dean Keith Simonton,
who has spent much of his career doing long-term quantitative studies
of creative genius, has concluded that a high failure rate is a
hallmark of creative geniuses — he concludes that the most creative
people — scientists, composers, artists, authors, and on and on —
have the greatest number of failures because they do the most stuff.
And he can find little evidence that creative geniuses have a higher
success rate than their more ordinary counterparts; they just take more
swings at the ball. Check out his book Origins for Genius , perhaps the most complete review of research on the subject."
Some advice for all of us… I am having trouble following too, I confess, but let's try:
1. Take a little risk.
2. Try something you are bad it
3. Encourage someone who has given their all and failed — don't humiliate or punish them.
4. Remember that by insisting on perfection and worrying too much that something bad will happen, you preclude the possibility that something great happen — or of suffering failure that will teach you a lesson that will make you a huge success the time after.
5. Talk about your mistakes and let others know what you have learned from them.
6. Punish inaction.
7. Punish CYA behavior — that isn't the kind of action we need right now. (I put-up a snide post about A-Rod yesterday, but I have to applaud him for admitting his mistake. John Thain –and Barry Bonds — could learn something from him.)
It is time for a little movement. In this spirit, I had the idea of putting up a picture of an Ex-Lax box on this post to convey that message. I decided not to do it, but I am going to take the little risk. Is it in bad taste? Probably, but I hope it helps you remember the message.
P.S. Speaking of Ex-Lax, this is one my favorite "asshole boss" revenge stories. See tip #3.
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