Most of us tend to avoid failure at all costs and feel weak and defeated when we fail. We are scared of not succeeding, of letting down, of seeming weak. We believe that any failure is something permanent that marks us for the rest of our lifes and defines who we are. This natural and common fear vastly limits us and strongly holds us back from doing many things. Many of us prefer to stay with the safe and avoid trying new or "risky" things just to avoid failure. This setbacks keep us from learning new things and skills, from taking risks, from overtaking new challenges, from growing as individuals, and even from finding paths to success. We shouldn't see failure as a threat to us nor something to avoid, we should see it as a great way of learning and gaining experience and even something to welcome in our lifes. The most effective way to get rid of this fear is to FACE failure. Overcoming this fear and accepting failure will allow us to move forward besides the setbacks and learn much more. In the book "Creative Confidence", by Tom and David Kelley, they talk a lot about the fear of failure, how to overcome it, and all the benefits it gives.
My internship at Ogilvy has allowed me to explore this, watch clear examples, and meet someone who is constantly facing failure and has been able to wipe away the fear. This person has realized through his own experience how much he can learn from failure and he even looks for it. He is always looking on ways to be better and improve his work as much as he can. He usually sends his work to the most expert and critic persons specifically to be judged. He is not afraid of failing or being criticized, on the contrary, he asks for criticism and always tries to perform better. He loves learning from failure and becoming better and more confident due to it. He is my boss, Aldo Canchaya, the creative director of Ogilvy in Peru.
"A widely held myth suggests that creative geniuses rarely fail. Yet according to Professor Dean Keith Simonton of the University of California, Davis, the opposite is actually true: creative geniuses, from artists like Mozart to scientists like Darwin, are quite prolific when it comes to failure - they just don't let that stop them. His research has found that creative people simply do more experiments... They take more shots at the goal... if you want more success, you have to be prepared to shrug more failure." ~Tom and David Kelley in "Creative Confidence".
This week, I was reading this part of the book and it suddenly reminded me of my boss. I consider him one of this "creative geniuses" who takes a lot of shots to the goal and faces many failures until he gets brilliant outcomes. This past three weeks he has inspired me a lot and I am really thankful to have had the opportunity to work with him.