Failing Better

Nov 30, 2011

At a professional development day I attended last week, we were told to plan in two-minute increments, listen to self-help tapes when driving, and multi-task when talking on the phone. We learned that the difference between success and lack thereof boils down to one factor: goals. People who have them, reach brilliance! People who don’t, dry up like old fruit.

Frankly, I found the session much ado about nothing. Of course goals can be useful. And so too is toilet paper. But that notion of predictable plotting – step one, step two, step three – merrily checking items off your life list with your phone to your ear – none of that gets us to the good stuff. Or at least not often. What about the madness? What about the unintended and often luminous consequences of floundering about, following your nose, dropping into the abyss simply to satisfy your curiosity about how black is black.

Success be damned. I say it’s the willingness to fail again and again that counts. The writer Samuel Beckett advised us to “go on failing. Go on. Only next time, try to fail better.” Now that’s a writing goal I can get behind!

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