failure myths
TRANSCRIPT
Failure MythsDr. Ricardo [email protected]
Failure?
“Fail fast, fail often, fail forward, fail better”
Beyond the trendy mythology…
Failure isn’t the opposite of Success
“Donald Trump is a successful person”
“Vladimir Putin is a successful person”
“Kim Jong-un is a successful person”
“Julia Gillard is a successful person”
“Lance Armstrong is a successful person”
“The War in Afghanistan has been a success”
“It’s complicated”For the right people at the right time, anything is a success or a failure
Two lists…
“MY BIGGEST FAILURES”
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“MY BIGGEST SUCCESSES”
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Success Failure
Failure Success
“Babe” Ruth hit 714 home runs in his career (1914-1935)
He also struck out 1,330 times in his career
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cliffbaise/4479440032
“Alfred Nobel was full of ideas; he said ‘If I have a
thousand ideas a year, and only one turns out to be
good, I am satisfied’.
I, too, am full of ideas, and I would be satisfied with one
good idea per year”
Dr. Linus Paulinghttp://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1962/pauling-acceptance_en.html
“Effectuation Logic”Saras D. SarasvathyProfessor in Business Administration & Entrepreneurship
Effectual logic (vs. casual logic)
Principles:1. “Bird in Hand” 2. “Affordable Loss” 3. “Patchwork Quilt”4. “Lemonade”5. “Pilot-in-the-plane”
www.effectuation.org
“Abductive Reasoning”Charles Sanders PeircePhilosopher, logician, mathematician, and scientist
Abductive Reasoning
• Deduction: “theory-driven”
• Induction: “observation-driven”
• Abduction: “consequence-driven”
Deductive Inductive Abductive
All A are BC is AThus, C is B
All observed A are CThus, all A are C
C is observed If A, then C would follow Hence, there is a reason to suspect A is true
(Peirce 1934)
“It then took me 5,127 prototypes to develop the final machine, each failed prototype informing the next one.”
James Dyson
https://www.standard.co.uk/business/business-news/dyson-reinvents-the-vacuum-again-and-a-smart-cleaner-could-be-on-the-way-9066199.html
“CV of Failures” Activity
Reflect
What is your attitude towards failure?
How have you been educated to face failure?
What could be positive about failing?
AskLearn from others’ mistakes
Identify the numerous failures behind successful people / businesses
Look for ‘trial and error’ processes (in Nature, Science, Society, Learning)
ChallengeTry doing something new,
anything you haven’t tried so far
Focus on your emotions toward error
Overcome, learn, persist and improve
Failure vs. Success
Cultivate a paradoxical combination of:
Confidence (perseverance, obstinacy)+Learning (openness, humility, feedback)
Discussion
What if you stop seeing failure and success as opposite?
What changes at work? In your personal life?