It’s time we embraced our failures

To quote a famous Peckham comedian: “Behind all this finery Rodney there lies a berk”. You may feel this is a bit of a harsh comment. But it is a great truth – you have to make mistakes to get to where you want to. I truly believe (and wholeheartedly embrace!) the fact that I am the product of all my mistakes. I continue to learn from my mistakes and I am prepared to make them to learn what really matters to me.

What also matters is that I admit when I make a mistake. It’s not always easy, but it will always be worthwhile. I then look at how to rectify the issue and how to learn what went wrong. Going forward, it’s about trying not to repeat the mistake, otherwise where is the learning (although I can’t guarantee a no repeat clause!)? But more than that, by owning my mistakes, I hope to encourage others to have a go, make mistakes and grow as a result.

The black box theory in the airline industry

A black box is a flight data recorder that must be in every air vehicle. All flight information is recorded into the black box with a specific algorithm. This makes the recorded flight data accessible to authorities when needed. It means that if something goes wrong, the airline can understand what the problem was and how best to solve this problem in the future.

Airline travel may be the safest way to travel, but things do still go wrong. Nothing (and nobody) is perfect. Things start to get really dangerous if you assume that perfect is possible. There are always errors and there are always learnings.

The danger of being controlled by fear and shame

Unfortunately, we often find ourselves in situations where we don’t feel we can make a mistake. The consequences of failing or getting something wrong are just not worth it. But that’s when people stop thinking for themselves, stop thinking creatively, stop pushing the boundaries and finding new, valuable and exciting solutions and ideas. An environment governed by fear and shame is not somewhere people can thrive or where great things are achieved. It is one where people shrink and will ultimately fail to reach their full potential. 

That’s why I prefer an environment where individuals are prepared to be and are allowed to be themselves, to be their full self – mistakes and all. Nobody’s perfect. 

Mistakes are an essential part of growth

I would also much rather have someone who gives challenging, new things a go and fails than someone who simply plays it safe the whole time. How will we grow, how will we evolve if we just stick to what we know? I encourage everyone to give things a go. I support original and creative ideas and if they fail, well, then we look at what went wrong, learn from it and move on stronger. Failure and mistakes should not be frowned upon, they should be embraced. They are a necessary part of growth, of learning, of life.

We need to share our failures and normalise them (I’ll say it again – nobody’s perfect). And we need to acknowledge just how many mistakes are needed to get us to the very best of our successes; how many mistakes are needed to get to the very best version of ourselves.