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Celebrating Failure
At CTI we make much of celebrating failure. This has been a controversial concept over the years. Here in Northern California many folks don‘t LIKE the word failure wanting to change it to something more “enlightened” sounding. . ..like “positive growth experience.”.
I find it useful to come directly at the word. â?¦failure, particularly because we seem to be so afraid of it. I wonder why. Do we really believe that “succeed” makes us right and good and “fail” makes us bad and wrong?
Edison failed over a thousand times in inventing the lightbulb, and celebrated every one.
It‘s incredibly valuable to call failure what it IS . .. a back-up-the-truck-and-hold-the-phone-by-God FAILURE. This does not mean I am BAD. . ..just means that I have, in fact, not succeeded at something that I have set out to do or have in some way failed to have the impact that I desired.
The important part of celebrating failure isn‘t the failure part anyway, It‘s the celebrating. Webster‘s has a several different definitions for the word “celebrate” one of which is “to honor, especially by solemn ceremonies or by refraining from ordinary business.” I love this definition. It speaks to me about holding up our failures to be honored and extraordinary, thereby empowering each failure . .serve us and to inform our ongoing learning, development and eventual success.
I find that it‘s not particularly useful to try and celebrate failure in the moment. I‘m much too busy FAILING (which I don‘t like at all) and trying to figure out what the heck happened. With the advantage of time (an hour, a day or a year) I find I have more perspective and can glean incredible learning from my past failures.
As I reflect on it, I see that it is my failures that have grown me, shaped me, transformed me, in so many ways. Each one has been a true gift, worthy of my attention, respect, honoring, celebration. You?
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Curtis
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