Before success comes the courage to fail

The natural world around us provides many lessons. Late last year I discussed how the humble bamboo plant has a lot to teach us about succeeding in this world. I love bamboo for many reasons, and as I said here before (and included in the Naked book in a callout section), bamboo itself offers us lessons in flexibility, strength, perseverance, simplicity, and openness. Today, while jogging up past some small farms in the mountains near our home in Nara, I passed through a familiar bamboo forest. But today something was different. I noticed one of the bamboo trees had given way and snapped during a strong wind we had recently. This caused me to take notice and slow down. We notice what is different, and if we slow down long enough a lesson may be revealed; this is a kind of "listening with the eyes." It seems that in a strong and unyielding wind, even the bend-but-don't-break adaptability of the humble bamboo will be tested to the point of failure. A subtle reminder from nature that even the strong and the courageous and the flexible fail sometimes. An old Japanese proverb says "Even monkeys fall from trees." (Saru mo ki kara ochiru — 猿も木から落ちる.) Somehow knowing this allows us to push past fear and to participate more fully as we embrace or own imperfections, even as we work to improve.


For years I lived in the center of a massive city in Japan, and there were lessons there. Now I live here, and the lessons are still to be found. Today I ran up the mountain and past many farm houses with rice fields in their winter state. Our house is in the distant hills across the valley below.


Higher up the mountain I came across an area of bamboo. I often pass by here on longer runs, but what caught my eye was the bamboo which had succumbed to the wind. Even the bending bamboo breaks just as monkeys sometimes fall from trees.


Slide featuring the monkey quote.

The biggest mistake is not taking action
We fear mistakes and failure more than just about anything. We fear mistakes to the point where we don't even begin to make the changes we know we need to make, or give up when we meet resistance long before the goal has been achieved. And yet, if you'll allow me to stretch a quote from Buddha just a bit, there are only two mistakes we should fear: not starting and not finishing. Failure and mistakes are not the problem, of course, it is the fear of them which may keep us from starting a difficult journey or force us to give up even after we mustered up enough courage to at least start. Quitting in itself is not a bad thing—often it is the wisest choice which also takes courage in its own right. But giving up out of an overpowering fear of failure is the kind of quitting that leads to regret, the kind of regret that eats away at you for a very long time. To paraphrase an old adage, hurt feelings, disappointments, and even embarrassments about past mistakes heal with time, but the regrets about the things we did not do are inconsolable (see Sydney Smith quotes).

 
 
Four different treatments of the same quotation in slides. Here running is used as a familiar metaphor for a journey or exploration, etc. Whether we're talking about the search for truth or knowledge, or finding a job, or making a change in our lives, it's often hard to start and difficult to stick with it. And the fear of failing is a barrier we must overcome.

Failure is always an option
One of my favorite TV shows is MythBusters (available here in Japan on Discovery as well). The MythBusters website says they mix "scientific method with gleeful curiosity and plain old-fashioned ingenuity to create their own signature style of explosive experimentation." (I wish my classes in school when I was a kid had had a similar formula.) Early on in the shows development, co-host Adam Savage came up with the phrase "Failure is always an option" as a way of encapsulating their approach to exploration, testing, and the process discovery and uncovering answers and solutions. In the video below Adam Savage is in the middle of telling a personal story of failure which took place long before he was the famous MythBuster on TV. To hear much more see the entire presentation here.



This MythBusters clip below highlights the necessity—or at least the common occurrence—of failure on the journey to success.

Comments

[Charlie Pharis]

Thanks, Garr, for sharing these insights. And thanks for all your long-distance encouragement and wisdom that helps us be better communicators.

Quick question: What's the small-caps font in the monkey quote slide?

Thanks again!

[Travis]

This is absolutely true. Failure leads to success, learning what not to do creates wisdom and allows for perfection.

[andrew]

cool, cool, cool, i just love that canvas photo pictures can look so good.

[brad_hjjo]

Very inspiring photo regarding Buddha's quote...

I just love it !!!

[Ramon]

Thanks, really nice article.

I think the nearling http://www.nearling.com would fit nicely here.

A nearling is something you did with the right intentions, yet which did not (yet) lead to the right result.

Ramon

[Bug Tracking]

This article is reminds me the story from move "The pursuit of happiness" with Will Smith.

[uk jobs]

Awesome tips, Daniel, and it is a really long post. I guess this is how you got employed by you know-who.

[Simone Brunozzi]

The place where you live is absolutely fantastic :)

[purchase dissertation]

Agreed with the statement that "Even monkeys fall from trees." (Saru mo ki kara ochiru — 猿も木から落ちる.) Somehow knowing this allows us to push past fear and to participate more fully as we embrace or own imperfections, even as we work to improve.

[grace]

nice phisolopy and tips, thanks you

[Barry]

Coming to peace with one's so called imperfections was a breakthrough for me, a greater breakthrough was the realization that it was not an imperfection, but simply me. I had a terrible speech impediment for years and now I teach medical students, graduate students and mentor students on how to give presentations. My impediment has pretty much disappeared, why? I accepted my imperfection, which gave me permission to stammer as I lectured, then gently and slowly the stammer disappeared once I realized this was who I am. I wonder if there are any imperfections.
Thank you for what you have offered and continue to offer in your blogs and books.

[Tiffany jewelry]

thank you ,,,great

[Silikonit]

I couldnt agree more with the title, thanks for a great post!

[Ed Alberts]

Ideas or processes that fail only hihghlight what soesn't/didn't work - just don't do them again, try a different way, idea, or subject.

[Make Beats]

It's having gone through the failure (or in the middle of one) that makes and entrepreneur "temporarily blind." It's hard to see the upside when your buried in sh**. But in end, feels good to be out. A character builder, yes it is.

[Acheter Cialis Generique]

i think it is absolutely true.. it is the fear of failure, not fear of success that makes people give up before even starting..

[husky training]

I think that fear of failure is what keeps most people working at their boring jobs instead of going out and doing what they love. I love that the myth-busters made that video and showed that it really is OK to fail from time to time. It shouldn't stop you from achieving your goals

[Mark Carter]

This is really nicely presented - many thanks indeed. The use of bamboo is such a classic Taoist image for flexibility and resilience. Water is the other symbol often used to illustrate this sort of quality. Many thanks again for sharing your thoughts, and beautiful images.

[Landry Fields]

My favorite bit of advice was the following:

If we dont have fear then we dont care.
If we dont care, then we wont bother to succeed.

[Supra Footwear]

Every brave man is a man of his word

[term paper]

Really smart thoughts were revealed in this article. Learning how to be ready for a failure is a key concept for every successful person.

[Jet]

Love those pictures.

But then, what's the difference between "give up" and "let go of"?

[MicroSourcing]

That maxim rings doubly true for businesses, because they're always at the mercy of the economy's fluctuations.

[Hisspresentation]

You are so right. Allways in my life when I have made major progress I have had a period of failiurs reight before it. It's like the child who learn to walk. Fall and then rise.

[custom essays]

totally agree with prev. comment! but it is better never fall!

[truth about abs]

Wow, I really enjoy your photography and the way you present it.

I especially like the monkey quote and pic.

[Dissertation Writing]

Yes you are right this can give us the lessons about the lessons in flexibility, strength, perseverance, simplicity, and openness,bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae,a beautiful plant this is,and the details and the things you share about it,they are really useful and beautiful to read.

[Bracelets Pandora]

“By and large, I clearly had not found a way to help classes full of MBAs see that there is more to life than money, power, fame and self-interest.”

[Gerald J Leonard]

Thanks for sharing your insight. I have also learned a ton from your book Presentation Zen.

[losing weight]

I was just wanting to learn more about zen, this is cool!

[mikey]

Zen is very good, i recommend learning it.

[Kenleyneufeld]

Thank you for the post. Insightful and useful for me personally and professionally.

I'd be very interested in using your Monkey slide in one of my presentations to a group of librarians. Can I have permission to use the slide (and add appropriate credit)?

Email me at http://about.me/kenleyneufeld