Learning Through Failure, or The Secret to Success

Who wants to fail at anything?  I know I don’t, and I also know I’ve failed at plenty.  But who ever played Für Elise the first time they tackled the piano?  Or balanced perfectly on a bike the first time they set out to ride on two wheels?  Or moving into the grown-up world of science experiments, what is a hypothesis except a supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation?  You may not be able to prove it, and would you classify that as a failure?  Thomas Edison would not.  His allegedly answered the question, “After 1000 attempts, why don’t you give up on the incandescent light bulb?” with “I have not failed 1,000 times.  I have successfully discovered 1,000 ways to NOT make a light bulb.”

The Education Issue of the New York Times published September 14, 2011 ran a huge article by Paul Tough, “What if the Secret to Success is Failure?” in which he followed two school leaders in New York City.  One is the head of a prestigious private school and the other is the superintendent of a consortium of charter schools serving low-income children. After reading Learned Optimism, a book by Martin Seligman, the psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania who helped establish the Positive Psychology movement, both Dominic Randolph and David Levin met with Seligman for a “freewheeling” discussion of education, psychology, and schooling.  Guess what they figured out?  Failure builds character!

Well, not all the time.  Failure builds character when the person experiencing it sees failure as an opportunity for learning.  In an interview with Parade magazine published September 25, 2011, actor George Clooney is asked by the author, “What have you learned from your failures?” and answers, “It’s hard getting thumped…but the only thing you can do is say, ‘Here’s what I won’t do next time.’ ” Learning through experience is far more valuable than learning through planning, and as George Clooney adds, you have to have both skill and confidence in your ability while at the same time being willing to fail.  What is the takeaway lesson here?  The ability to persist in the face of failure, to bounce back to try again, is what will ultimately lead to success and simultaneously build a person of good character.

It’s a lesson that is taught quite explicitly in George Leonard’s book, Mastery (1992).

Leonard, an aikido master, understood that mastery is not a quick fix: it is a life-long process. It is not a goal to be achieved but as an acceptance, and even enjoyment, of the process of learning and growing in a skill.  His five keys to success are:

  1. Instruction — On the road to mastery, the pupil needs an instructor.
  2. Practice — Without repetition, the instruction is wasted.
  3. Surrender — Be willing to fail to become better.
  4. Intentionality — Maintain a clear vision of where you are trying to go.
  5. Edge — Continue to challenge and press the limits of your abilities.

 

Here’s a simple trick that anyone can use to help you move from failure to success: change your self-talk.  Instead of saying, “I’m a failure.  Nothing I do ever turns out right,” say “I am learning a new skill, I am committed to learning how to [fill in the blank]. You stop complaining and take responsibility for your actions, which actually helps you take action and keep you from being stuck in the same place day after day, year after year. The side benefit: you will feel better about yourself.  In the end, there is no substitute for “deep knowledge” about whatever you are trying to master, from athletic to intellectual skills.

 

 

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