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Anyone in the real world knows that character, ambition and motivation are fueled by overcoming obstacles. Watch this video (brought to my attention by awesome speaker David Nour) and then think about the way people are being educated in America these days.
I remember our school talent shows were forbidden to give awards to kids after my second-grade year, because a mother protested that winning 4th place made her daughter feel inadequate. School kids now aren’t even allowed to play tag in the playground because it might make them feel like outsiders. A whole generation of people entering the workforce today were not allowed to “fail” by teachers and parents. What will that do to American ingenuity? How can we help mentor this new generation so they understand how necessary it is to fail?
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Jenise Fryatt Says:
2009-12-03 16:50:25
Thanks so much for this! As I start a whole new chapter of my career, I see tons of risk involved and of course face the prospect of failure. Thank God I am on a much friendlier basis with it!! As you note above, there is great value in failure. "Make friends with the monster and it will no longer hold any power over you," my musical theater coach used to say. Your question about the younger generation and its lack of experience with failure due to school and child-rearing policies is very valid, but I would also note that video games and the internet have given them lots of experience with it. (In most games they die a thousand deaths, but learn from their negative experiences and keep trying.) Coincidentally, "Failure" and its value is the subject of my next blog post. Thanks again!!
Kristi Sanders Says:
2009-12-03 17:13:19
Jenise- Your musical theater coach was very right. Anyone who does any kind of performance or speaking (or event planning) has to be comfortable with the possibility that something can go wrong so they can improvise until things get back on track. In the improv world, they say you have to "dare to fail" if you want to be any good at all. I have a 13-year-old who plays a lot of video games, but the perseverance he shows in playing them for hours doesn't translate at all into how he applies himself to real-life activities. But that may be a "that stuff isn't fun" issue. The biggest issue I've found with (some) Gen Y in the workforce (because I've had wonderful experiences with our younger workers too) is that some of them have a sense of entitlement — they expect to receive salary advances every few months without mastering the tools or knowledge they need to be put in more important positions. Or they think they know everything, and that stubbornness keeps them from the detailed process of learning they need to do the basic tasks correctly. Some are very motivated, bright and inventive. But we had one girl who just wilted and gave up the first time she didn't do something right. So it is on a case-by-case basis. But I do think by trying to even the playing field for kids we've dulled what's really exciting about playing in the big sandbox with all the adults. Life isn't fair — and isn't it wonderful what doors of possibility you can open once you get over it?
Serenity J. Knutson Says:
2009-12-14 18:02:59
Interesting discussion, Kristi. Where does that sense of entitlement come from? Why, from the very people who think kids should get a trophy just for showing up... As a Gen Yer who attended a small-town high school out in the sticks, where the "everybody wins" rules don't apply yet, I'm grateful for being allowed to fail, for being forced to fight for my chances, and for being cheated out of a few opportunities along the way. That's the way the real world works, and you're right on - the sooner people (no matter how old) figure that out, the better off they'll be. No one excels when he or she is only expected to be as good as anyone else.
Kristi Casey Sanders Says:
2009-12-14 18:12:17
Amen, sister! I heard something great at a MPI PEC-NA a couple of years ago from speaker Elliot Masie: At every event you do, try 5 new things, including one thing that just might fail. By doing so, you can be sure that you're really stretching yourself and working towards innovation, staying ahead of the curve and seeing if what your attendees want is really what you're giving them with current formats, or if they're ready to go somewhere new.
Serenity J. Knutson Says:
2009-12-15 13:28:45
Great concept, Kristi. Whenever something new is introduced, there is a chance of failure... but failure is imminent without the introduction of new things. Frank Anton, the CEO of Hanley Wood, delivered a great line at a FOLIO summit early in 2008 that I will always remember: “If you make money, it permits you to take risk; if you can take risk, you can grow." And to that I would add one thing: if you're NOT making money, you better try something new... in a hurry! :)
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