Failing Forward

Yes, you read that right, not falling forward, but failing forward. Noodle on this, "Failure is not an option. Failure is a requirement." (Bobby Gruenewald, LifeChurch.tv) Sound weird in your brain?

Just tonight I had one of those long conversations with my 10 year old about the 75 she got on her spelling test last week, since she didn't remember to bring her list of words home to study. My point is we have to stay on top of our preparation so that her grades reflect her ability. Trust me, she is super smart...so in this area, failure is not an option. So when bad grades come home, what I want her to learn is that she must fail forward - learn from her mistakes and make a better grade. Great news is, she gets another chance this week. These conversations are never fun, but the desired result will be rewarding in the end.

Now, let's consider this in the context of CREATIVITY. Noodle this one, "When you fail, you get to try again. You get another chance to create. Mental risk takers are more likely to produce creative results by working at the edge of their competence, where the possibility of failure lurks." (David Perkins, Harvard University) This guy is saying that when you are out there, perhaps way out of your comfort zone, you just might find your greatest achievement waiting way out there. Perhaps when you're risking what you know and what you're comfortable with. In essence, there can be mental freedom in failing. It allows you to look and say, "Okay, so we can eliminate these things because they don't work." Imagine that.....

My dad used to do this with me. I would come in and sit on his lap...cry my mascara from one shoulder to the other. He's listen, let me get the tears out, then he'd dry me up and say, "You tried, you failed. NOW, what did you learn? What will you do different next time?" Then, he'd encourage me to not be afraid of getting back at it, take what I learned and go try again!

Craig Groeschel was quoted in Innovation Magazine as saying, "I tell our staff over and over: Failure is not an option, it is essential. If you're not failing, you've stopped dreaming. And eventually, you'll stop learning and growing." I personally believe that in my field of ministry this is so true. One of the things I see that hold people back, myself included, is the fear of failing. The "What if my idea stinks or doesn't work?" It can be completely paralyzing at times. I have sat in meetings before and actually been afraid of sharing ideas for the fear of being ridiculed that my idea would be a failure. This was something that I realized early on that I had to break free from. My mentor certainly helped. No idea was bad and everyone was heard. Creativity must include an element of failure. Especially in the brainstorming phase. There is no dream that is impossible when you're brainstorming. NO just simply shouldn't be allowed. There is no limit to the budget when we're dreaming. There is nothing to hard to accomplish or to big of a task to tackle. If you bring your limitations - or better said FEARS to the brainstorming table, then you're not really dreaming. As a creative, I feed off of other people's thoughts and ideas. Throw everything out there, like spaghetti against the kitchen wall and see what sticks. Together, we might discover the greatest idea our ministry has ever seen. Keep it in your head and we've been limited and perhaps didn't even know it. The time to take our dreams and make them reality comes when the brainstorming is done. That is an art itself. We'll talk about that one in a later post.

Failing forward. We just can't be afraid to fail in life. Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes it brings us ridicule from others. But I can think of some great Americans who failed and failed again before they found success. Abe Lincoln for one. This man had hardship stacked against him. He lost jobs, failed in business, lost loved ones, lost congress races, even had a nervous breakdown in 1836 - yea, mental illness. There was a lot of failures there before this man, who many thought was a loser, became our president. And had he not led the way for the Emancipation Proclamation, I'm pretty sure my new President wouldn't be the President right now. History now treats Lincolns failures as inspiration for life. Thanks Abe.

Please hear my heart here...I'm not about being a failure. Absolutely not. I hate to make mistakes PERIOD! But I embrace the freedom that comes with being unafraid to face failures as I seek to help others create ministry. I'm not afraid to fail, as long as I failed forward. I get a new chance to create. Thank you Lord for mercy and grace and new chances.