You Should Delete This
Thaddeus RexI saw this interesting post on Facebook yesterday:
I’ve heard the sentiment so many times, you must fail to succeed. The biggest successes were also the biggest failures. You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.
I know these things are true, but it’s so hard to push through and make it happen.
As I sit down with this blank page, I feel a small bit of terror. Why would anyone want to hear what I have to say? Is there anything even worth saying? Can mere words accomplish anything?
The blank page is scary. Not because of it’s limitations but because of it’s potential.
The moment I put words on this page, they have the chance to fail. And what could be more embarrassing than failing in public!?
That'd be almost as bad as telling you about the time in 6th grade when I showed up for the first day of school wearing…
Hmmm… Maybe that’s just the story I should tell.
The first day of 6th grade I moved to a new school district. I show up for the first day wearing new shoes, new shorts and a polo shirt.
Stepping out of the car I can feel everyone’s eyes on me. The new kid is here, a stranger thrown among old friends.
As my mom drives off, I see someone in the school yard I actually know, a neighbor. I walk up and say hi. He leans in and whispers 9 terrifying words, “Don’t you know, shorts aren’t allowed in middle school...”
The world spins slightly as the truth sinks in. In this new place, I don't understand the rules. I look around. Sure enough, I'm the only one in sight wearing shorts. I feel like a sore thumb sticking out all over the place.
Worse yet, it's the first day of school, and that means building tours. After parading through every classroom in the middle school, the teachers walk us next door where proceed to visit every single classroom in the high school as well. We are seen by every single upper classman in the entire district. And everywhere I go, I'm the only kid wearing shorts. I'm mortified...
Looking back, I’m not embarrassed I wore shorts, but am embarrassed that I was embarrassed at all. Embarrassment is like a disease. FDR could have said, “the only thing we have to be embarrassed about is embarrassment itself…”
Today, no one cares how many shots Jordan missed, or how many games he lost. Winning a basketball game requires a lot of embarrassing misses.
No one cares what I wore to Middle School. And if the words I write today bore you, you can simply hit delete.
As a matter of fact, you should delete this. Quit reading my ideas and get a few of your own on paper. Can’t wait to see ‘em. Write something totally outlandish. Embarrass yourself in a big way, for it's inside those gut wrenching mistakes that great successes lay waiting…
Reader Comments (2)
I think that our fear of failure is only reinforced by organizations that claim to want to establish a “culture of accountability” but instead create a cult of blame. Blame cults are reasonably easy to spot since there tends to be a lot of discussion about whose fault bad decisions are. These are the organizations where everyone knows who’s fault the falling sales or poor quality is, but no one is doing anything about it out of fear that they may be the next person blamed.
Too often an atmosphere emerges that values the façade of individualism and infallibility. We like to believe in the myth of infallibility and undervalue a well executed “swing and a miss”. For many organizations our fear of failure means that we are unwilling to take the calculated risks that may lead to increased success. Perhaps even worse we are unwilling to make our learning public out of concern that learning is too often confused with failing.
The culture of blame and fear of failure must diminish if organizations of all sizes are going to benefit from the increasing importance of organizational learning and knowledge management. I have seen many organizations install high-cost knowledge management “solutions” (expensive software) – without addressing the organizational norms that keep people from sharing information that might be perceived as making them look bad. Isn’t it equally important to know what we need to do less of as what we need to do more?
Too many organizations still focus on identifying the “key contributor” and the rising star – instead of promoting the team effectiveness that can emerge when people trust each other enough to share – and learn from – bot success and failures.
As Harry S Truman once said, “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit."
Interesting. Organizational leadership can do much to overcome these problems. But when it comes to 'fear of failure' or 'fear of standing out from the crowd', are these problems caused by leadership or are they a natural component of human nature?