'Safe-to-fail'??
If you happen to let slip that you feel you are failing, I guarantee the other person will try to reassure you that you’re not really failing: cheer up, look on the bright side, it can’t be all that bad! It is not OK to fail. We want to achieve our goals, for things to go well, for relationships to be affirming. I’d say, in the church anyway, that we are afraid of failure, maybe even allergic to it.
That makes us risk-averse; the ‘tried and true’ feels less risky. Our fears of failing can be used by those with a vested interest in the status quo. The head of a church funding body once told me that there was a black mark against me because our children’s ministry project had not gone as well as we had hoped. A black mark! No point in seeking funding from them again.
It’s not that our fears of failure aren’t rational. 2021 is a crunch year for the world to start reducing our carbon emissions if we have any hope of keeping global warming under 2 degrees. The consequences of failure are staggering. But fear is not our friend. It does not release energy and innovation. Creativity requires safety, not anxiety.
I was fascinated to hear the Sustainability Lead at Orion NZ (Pip Newland) talking about creating a ‘Safe to Fail’ culture for stimulating sustainability practices within their organisation. They deliberately nurture fresh ideas, even ‘left-field’ ones (like putting bee hives in their safe cafe!), by giving people room to try stuff out, see what happens. ‘Safe to fail’ is a strategy for solving big problems with small experiments. Making it safe to fail is crucial because learning happens through experimentation, and experimentation often results in failure. Try and learn.
When I was in parish ministry I had a very low tolerance for failure. Any difficult relationship or limping project was a major stress. I was guilty of expecting that everything I did would work and assuming that everyone would approve of me. Some things we have to learn the hard way!
Now I am self-employed and stepping out into the big wide world I am learning a completely relationship with failure. To be an entrepreneur you have to expect that most things you try will fail. Most people I contact will ignore me, and some will be openly hostile. Now I hope that, just maybe, a few of my initiatives will result in relationships and projects that open out into new possibilities. It is up to me to create ‘safe to fail’ space that I can step into.
Am I failing or succeeding? Right now, it’s hard to tell. It is probably the wrong question. Am I managing my fear of failing? Not too bad!
That makes us risk-averse; the ‘tried and true’ feels less risky. Our fears of failing can be used by those with a vested interest in the status quo. The head of a church funding body once told me that there was a black mark against me because our children’s ministry project had not gone as well as we had hoped. A black mark! No point in seeking funding from them again.
It’s not that our fears of failure aren’t rational. 2021 is a crunch year for the world to start reducing our carbon emissions if we have any hope of keeping global warming under 2 degrees. The consequences of failure are staggering. But fear is not our friend. It does not release energy and innovation. Creativity requires safety, not anxiety.
I was fascinated to hear the Sustainability Lead at Orion NZ (Pip Newland) talking about creating a ‘Safe to Fail’ culture for stimulating sustainability practices within their organisation. They deliberately nurture fresh ideas, even ‘left-field’ ones (like putting bee hives in their safe cafe!), by giving people room to try stuff out, see what happens. ‘Safe to fail’ is a strategy for solving big problems with small experiments. Making it safe to fail is crucial because learning happens through experimentation, and experimentation often results in failure. Try and learn.
When I was in parish ministry I had a very low tolerance for failure. Any difficult relationship or limping project was a major stress. I was guilty of expecting that everything I did would work and assuming that everyone would approve of me. Some things we have to learn the hard way!
Now I am self-employed and stepping out into the big wide world I am learning a completely relationship with failure. To be an entrepreneur you have to expect that most things you try will fail. Most people I contact will ignore me, and some will be openly hostile. Now I hope that, just maybe, a few of my initiatives will result in relationships and projects that open out into new possibilities. It is up to me to create ‘safe to fail’ space that I can step into.
Am I failing or succeeding? Right now, it’s hard to tell. It is probably the wrong question. Am I managing my fear of failing? Not too bad!