Fail Fast
Last night I was reading an e-book titled ‘Fail As Fast As Possible’ And Other Contrarian Business Success Secrets by David Vallieres. The ideas offered in this book were not unfamiliar to me.
The author talks about baseball players failing more often than they succeed when at bat. Great players hit the ball less than 40% of the time. Each time they approach the plate, though, they plan to hit a home run.
They’ve put in the practice. They’ve kept their bodies in shape. They’ve scratched what needed to be scratched and have done their pre-batting rituals. And more often than not, they won’t hit the ball. They fail.
I’m sure that when they are back in the dug out after striking out they try to figure out what went wrong. Perhaps it was their stance. Perhaps it was an unfamiliar pitcher. Perhaps it was a lack of focus because life issues were on their minds.
But despite the failure they keep coming back, inning after inning, to try again.
As I read the Vallieres’ book, I was reminded that failure is part of the game. It can even be an exciting part of the game. When it happens accept it. Sit down. Mull over what went wrong. And then be prepared to hit a home run the next time it’s your turn at bat.
Perhaps we should start to celebrate our failures… share them… bask in them.
Okay, I don’t know if I’m quite ready for that yet myself, but I know my failures usually make better stories than my successes. Hmmm… but then again, maybe the stories aren’t better. There just happen to be more of them.
