26A – Celebrating Failure

1) Tell us about a time this past semester that you failed – whether in this class, or outside of this class. Don’t spare any details! It’d be even better if there was something you tried several times this semester, and failed each time.
During this past semester I often had a hard time getting interviews, both for this class and for my innovation academy class during Summer A. Many times, particularly when I had to interview experts, I would initially fail in getting the interviews I needed and would have to send many calls and emails to eventually get them. The problem was that they weren’t often in their offices or they were too busy to talk to me. It was very frustrating and exhausting because of the sense of discouragement you feel when you can’t achieve something, or in the face of innocuous rejection.

2) Tell us what you learned from it.
I learned that patience and consistency are very important when you want to achieve something, even if it’s just a simple 10 minutes interview. Also, I realized that maybe I would have a higher chance of success if I had looked for experts and numbers to call earlier, as well as if I had planned my interview pitch and interviews in advance. I had a better call back rate and interview rate after working out a pitch to tell the secretary, who would pass me on to the person I needed to talk to. I also learned to better accept being told no and not let that discourage me from calling. So, I think that arranging everything in advance could decrease the chances of failing, even if you always have to take into consideration possible setbacks and have lots of contingencies plan in who to contact if you don’t get the response you need

3) Reflect, in general, on what you think about failure. Failure is hard, isn’t it? It’s embarrassing, sure, but it also means that we have to change something about ourselves. Talk about how you handle failures (emotionally, behaviourally). Finally, talk about how this class changed your perspective on failure – are you more likely to take a risk now than you were just a few months ago?
I find failures very frustrating, above all if I realize my efforts are vain. Failures are also hard to accept, and I think that’s why they sometimes discourage me. I also didn’t like asking for something when I could be told no because it feels like failure. What I often do to handle failures is talking to a friend about it who tries to motivate me. Also, when I realize that most of my failures aren’t critical or serious, I manage to find the determination to keep trying. That’s why I believe that failures and tenaciousness are somehow linked. This class changed my perspective on failures; after reading the book by Scott Adams I started to see them as positive and inevitable if you want to be successful, because not only you learn from them, but you also gain experience and new skills. So, the next time I encounter a failure I’ll try to accept it and learn from it.