Be more encouraging with failure

Hooray, I failed! Candy Crush or any other addictive game will celebrate with me about how I didn't make that level.

It's celebrated with a big colourful banner, sound effects, cheery, joyous music, AND an exclamation point.

"You've failed!"

I can't wait to have another go at it to see if I can learn what I've been doing wrong and get somewhere closer to succeeding. After all, it's fun. I'm failing and I'm trying again.

Playing a digital game we're encouraged to rejoice at our failure and enthused to try again.

Plenty to read over recent years about failure in well authored books and leading magazines and how we need to accept it in the workplace. Ok, well and good... but I just don't think we're 'accepting' failure quite right.

I failed at work? OK, where's the cheery music? Where's the banner and the sound effects? And where is the exclamation point !?!

Building on the happy lessons of improvisers who say ‘yes and’ and who make their partners look good, experimenting and failing is also being willing to let go of your first idea. What else can you cook up?

At one of the earliest improvisation workshops I went to where we were learning the tools, techniques and philosophies of improv, the phrase ‘again’ was shouted with joy when a scene was ‘stuffed up’ or failed. If the story didn't progress or a playing partner didn't pick up the line and run with it, we shouted 'go again', and we have another try and say or do something else. Anything else. Just do something!

We simply started again and had another go at it. Hands up in the air, leaping up, shouting 'I stuffed up!' or 'Again!'

Yes, THERE's the exclamation point! Go again!

Be more encouraging with failure and going 'again' this year. If something doesn't work, try something else. Just go again. Because we failed! Hooray!