Snap! Snap! Snap! … Pile of Limbs … Creativity!
“Overcoming failure is a key to success in life. In 2000 I wrote a book based on that belief titled Failing Forward. The thesis of the book is that the difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure. Creativity demands the ability to be unafraid of failure. Edwin Pond says, ‘An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.’
Why is that so crucial? Because creativity equals failure. You may be surprised to hear such a statement, but it’s true. Charles Frankl asserts that ‘anxiety is the essential condition of intellectual and artistic creation.’ Creativity requires a willingness to look stupid. It means getting out on a limb –knowing that the limb often breaks! Creative people know these things and still keep searching for new ideas. They just don’t let the ideas that don’t work prevent them from coming up with more ideas that do work.
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We all know this advice, and it has become much more common as entrepreneurship and start-ups become more common. But I think where this quote hits home and where we really see the gravity of the choice is when we choose to step outside of a comfortable situation. Instead of walking down a known, direct path; we pursue a path that we believe fits us better even though there are murky clouds around it because this path presents more of an opportunity to thrive.
The creative ones that go after the uncertainty do not just pursue risk. They walk the sinewy limbs because they see life and light thriving and throbbing out on the edge of the limb, and so they pursue that life and light. Naturally, we don’t want our creative side to become so strong that we also become greedy and chase after more than is good for us. And that is why rationality and smart decisions can be tied into the decision calculus … But then again humankind is in debt to many risk-takers who were so captivated by their vision that they thrust rationality aside. So as I try to create a good general principle, I’m left with – you gotta’ do what’s best for you and your unique mentality … but be prepared to accept the consequences.
Many times, though, the risk-taking has no negative side-effect besides damaging our egos … and that might actually be a good thing sometimes. For example, one trait of successful language learners is that they are not afraid to fail and look to stupid while learning a language. I have made and continue to make mistakes learning languages. It is just part of the learning process, and I would not recognize areas for improvement if I did not also recognize my mistakes. I remember when I first started learning Russian, and I went into a shop my first day in St. Petersburg, Russia. I asked the clerk for water, and she could not understand me. I felt silly for not even being able to pronounce even “water” correctly in Russian. But I also quickly learned the correct pronunciation.
When I teach English as a second language, the students who are not afraid of making mistakes and push through because they want to learn – those students learn rapidly. Many of the students who are afraid of making mistakes and looking silly – they fall behind, unfortunately. There are many reasons why students do not advance to the next grade/level at school, but I think one big reason is that those students do not put themselves out there to speak the target language. They prefer to not be noticed in class, and their goal is to not look silly/stupid in front of the class. The goal should be learning the material no matter how that makes you look. The focus should be on learning not on your image. This is one reason why I try to create a relaxed atmosphere in my classes and try to create funny moments. I know the importance of having a fun even goofy environment because all of us cannot take ourselves too seriously if we want to learn a language seriously.
Of course, it is easy to type and read the “should’s” of language learning and creative risk-taking. It’s easy to tell these students how they should think about language learning. But before you tell someone similar advice, I challenge you to learn a language and look silly. I challenge you to walk out on limbs that might make you look like a fool. At the beginning and even during your creative pursuit, you may think that you look like a fool standing next to a pile of broken limbs. But really at the end, you will be standing on top of the pile of broken limbs - above everyone else who were too afraid.