Failing Forward

It is no secret that I am a fan of failing, nor that leaning into failing is actually learning. We are facing unchartered territory every day. It isn't that we are in a epoch of change, or that our times are so much different than other times, it is the very nature of life: every day is different.

We wake up into change. The weather changes, our mood changes, our sleep patterns change. Routines are very rarely routine, rote, perhaps, but routine? No. We don't know if the lights are going to ever be in our favor on our commute or not. We do not know if the interactions with others are going to be the same or not. Life is constantly changing and we are constantly adapting or shifting in response.

Anne Shirley is well advised by her teacher who reminds her, "Every day is fresh, with no mistakes in it." And I would add, "yet."

Shying away from mistakes is detrimental to growth. We don't have time for people to chain their brilliance up behind a fear of failure, because we will fail. Every day, we will fail. So let's get comfortable with it, embrace it, and not just talk about it.

Below are 3 practical ways you can fail forward and reclaim what has been lost to worry.

Daniel Pink encourages us to keep a failure resume. It isn't a shame chart in any form, it is about recording both the failure and what was learned. It is a way to mine the data and move forward.

Seth Godin says to lean into failure, and find that point that is a full lean, but not falling on your face.

And once you are comfortable with your own fails, it is time to make space for your tribe's fails by creating a failure lab.

Because failing is imperative to innovation. Failing is learning. Failing is oh so on fleek.