Failures and Open Doors

Jeffrey (great name) Zeldman:

We must stop thinking of failure as an end of something, and learn to see it as a natural part of progress. The first incarnation of a new idea may die, but the best ideas will find new lives. Behind every successful launch, there are 100 interesting failures. 

I think about this a lot, at least as it pertains to being your authentic self in your decisions, be it career, hobbies, family, whatever. There’s nothing wrong with poking at an interesting idea — or even 100 interesting ideas — and have it lead “nowhere.”

Nowhere is heavily carried by quotations there because I often conflate going nowhere with failure. And failure is something we’re conditioned to avoid. We want to open the door to success and shut the door to any sort thing that stands in its way.

The problem is framing. You’re never going nowhere. It’s more like going through a refining process, chipping away at the marble statue that is your career, hobbies, family, whatever. You know, you. Your context and experience matters, even those that didn’t seem to pan out at the time.

I used to hear John Lennon’s lyrics for “All You Need is Love” a little cynically:

There's nothing you can do that can't be done
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung
[...]
Nothing you can make that can't be made
No one you can save that can't be saved

Sure, in that isolated context, everything under the sun has been done. What’s the point of anything, right? Well, the conclusion is different when we step back and take in the full picture:

But you can learn how to play the game
[...]
But you can learn how to be you in time
It's easy

We’re not going nowhere. We’re not failing, per se. We’re learning to play the game and how to be our authentic selves in time. I’m not so sure about the “easy” part, but the recipe is in plain view.

This comes up a lot when Brad and I answer questions on the Open Up! podcast. It comes up a lot in my own thinking as I consider what’s ahead. So much has already been explored that we can learn from. So much still hasn’t been explored that is entirely possible if we open ourselves up to it.

It’s a small perspective shift, but it also changes your song’s meaning entirely.