Why do we have to fail to learn?

Dr. Rafe Sagarin suggests that we should be more like a nasty octopus to evolve.

I remember some epic failures I have made. Who doesn’t? There is something about the human species, something in our brain, where we remember our failures vividly. In a lecture at the Naval Postgraduate School in July 2013, Dr. Rafe Sagarin detailed how we can learn from the octopus and that we can learn from success.

As Dr. Sagarin discussed how species observe, expand, identify, and learn, I found myself thinking that for a lesson of such significance, Dr. Sagarin should have chosen a cover animal that we would want to pet. That aside, the class was fixated on the translation of lessons from the animal world to the world that we were studying; homeland security.

Dr. Sagarin asserted that the most adaptable organisms learn from success. He said that learning from failure is an evolutionary dead-end and learning from success is a creative feedback process. This premise got me thinking about the vivid nature of failure and the human condition of humility as a barrier to progress. In homeland security and most of public sector work, we focus on failure.

Using a lesson from biologist Edward Ricketts who taught that “the fish doesn’t try to turn the shark into a vegetarian”, Dr. Sagarin was saying that the fish simply thrives given the experiences of success from avoiding the shark without trying with great futility to alter the shark. That lesson has significant resonance when conceptualized in the homeland security arena.

Why would we attempt to change the culture of another instead of understanding that culture? As a nation we have failed and we have succeeded. If we follow the lessons presented from observation and study of animals in nature, we can engage in the creative feedback process and we will evolve.

Without a doubt, the lecture stimulated thinking about how we could apply the adaptive nature of well…nature. Leveraging successes to eliminate barriers to evolution is not bragging or vanity, it is following the lessons from the octopus.

I still wish the animal was something cute and furry. Apparently doemsticated animals have less to offer even though I have never seen a “guide starfish for the blind” or “companion conch”.

If you are interested, Dr. Sagarin’s book is called Learning from the Octopus and he may be reached at www.adaptablesolutions.org or www.RafeSagarin.com