Go ahead and blunder

I firmly believe that it’s impossible to innovate if you don’t dare (or aren’t allowed) to make mistakes. Because this edition is focused on innovation, I want to zoom in on the second part of that statement – because we’ve become afraid...afraid of making mistakes.

‘To make a mistake is only human’…‘If you fall down, just get back up again’…‘Nobody’s perfect’...I’m sure we all heard such pieces of advice when we were growing up. So why do we seem to have forgotten them? We set high standards for ourselves, everything has to be as perfect as possible. If we make a mistake, it tends to be the source of a headache rather than of progress. 

For many years, the motto of one of my daughters seemed to be: ‘A life without drawing is a life not worth living’. She produced endless creations – pictures of princesses, sailing ships, flowers, animals, fantastical monsters. She has now reached adolescence. Now, when she sits down to draw, pencil poised, she seems to think that every line must be perfect, so the sheet of paper remains untouched. When I see her sitting there, I also see myself. “Just have a go – do a sketch, if it goes wrong learn from your mistakes, grab a new sheet of paper and try again. Don’t worry about making a blunder! Experiment!” I say to her (and secretly to myself too). When she finally overcomes her self-doubt, the number of crumpled balls of paper scattered on the floor around her steadily grows – but so too does the stack of successful drawings next to her.

“It’s important to make mistakes in order to learn, and to discover whether something works or not,” according to Groningen-based ‘Screw Up’ event. “We celebrate our moments of failure – our ‘oops, that wasn’t such a great idea’ self-reflection. By making mistakes we overcome fears, give people the courage to follow new paths, kick-start innovation and lift taboos.” I love that philosophy!

Did you know: 80 to 90 percent of all inventions fail? Samuel West, an American psychologist, gathered countless examples of failed advertising campaigns and products and put them on display in the ‘Museum of Failure’* (Helsingborg, Sweden). The website states: “Every item provides unique insight into the risky business of innovation”. The underlying message of this museum is clear: you can’t be successful without failing now and again. 

So, I’m now saying it to you too: “Don’t worry about making a blunder! Experiment! Learn from your mistakes and try again.”

Judith Witte
 
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@vakbladenfood

* The museum is due to close on 15 September, but will go on tour after that, including a pop-up exhibition on 5 October during Emerce EDay at the Kromhouthal venue in Amsterdam and from 18-22 October during Design Week in Kortrijk, Belgium.