Don't Fail To Play

One of my all-time favorite book titles is “Failing Forward” by John Maxwell. It captures one of my basic values, that failure can be a very good thing. In fact, most of the really important things I’ve learned came as a result of really big messes I got myself into. 

The cover story in the current Business Week tells about entrepreneurs who went from whopping failures to remarkable success. And, this morning, Seth Godin, organizational guru and best-selling author, posted “Failure As An Event” on his blog. He says he tries not to think too much about big-time failures because dwelling on them can stifle creativity. But, he adds, “when you see failure as a learning event, not a destination, it makes you smarter, faster.” And then he lists some of his biggest boo-boos. 

I have a pretty long list myself. Here are just two, along with the big lesson learned:

Camp Kenoshawa – Ok, that’s not its real name. But there really was a camp in Wisconsin where, after my sophomore year in college, I was hired on as a counselor for the summer. I managed to hang on until about the beginning of August before getting fired for insubordination. Lessons learned: You can mouth off on the job only if you don’t really care whether or not you get fired, some bosses are certifiable and you probably don’t want to work for them anyway, a lot of organizations have no idea how to invite healthy participation from their employees. 

Big Bran Muffins – That’s not its real name, either. But I really did start a muffin-baking company once upon a time. I hooked up with a company that was selling muffin mixes by the boatload – giant muffins – made out of bran, fiber, what looked a little like bird seed, and other health-nut ingredients. I baked, packaged, and sold them basically door-to-door to local convenience stores. After six months or so I had a couple of regular accounts but mostly I was getting odd looks from the store owners. It was the early 80’s. Who would want to eat something that tasted this BAD, they wanted to know? I closed up shop having lost a good chunk of my initial investment, thinking that if I didn’t get out fast I’d lose my shirt, too. Lessons learned: If you’re going to be ahead of the curve you have to be ready to hang on while the rest of the world catches up with you, some people will buy anything if you’re persistent and enthusiastic enough, it turns out people really WILL eat stuff that tastes bad if they think it’s good for them! 

What are some of the big messes you’ve gotten yourself into? What’d you learn? The truth is: Making a mistake, miscalculation, or mess isn’t the biggest risk we take! The bigger risk is that we’ll be so afraid to fail we miss out on our own future. 

One of the things you must do to cultivate a culture of creativity and possibility in your organization is to make failure ok, as long as you learn from it. And THAT means helping people work playfully. Make sure you’re taking your purpose seriously. But don’t take YOURSELVES so seriously that you’re afraid to make a big mess. 

Trust me. I should know.