Failure Enables Creativity
I have written about teaching in the inner city as well as teaching in South Korea. Both settings have one thing in common: grades. Students all over the world are taught for the entirety of their schooling that grades are super important. After all, getting the best grades is surely the way to achieving success in college admission. And after that, high scores in college is the way to reach career goals.
As a kid, I was always expected to earn A+. As a teacher, I cringed when students struggled to produce, and I had to dole out the “D” grade.
But as a teacher, I realized the possibilities that are present in failure. When you fail at something on the first try, you retrace your steps to figure out why you failed and how you failed. Then, you are free to try a new approach.
It is quite the opposite with finding success on the first try. When you succeed, you continue to move forward without analyzing why or how you succeeded. Most times, you assume you have the sauce and you roll with it.
Next time you experience a hiccup in strategy, or failure, consider it as an opportunity to try a new approach.
Inspired by the book “Heads I Win, Tails You Lose" by Patrick Donohoe.
