failure is good (and tough) …like kale!

Thanks for this wise thought, Kasper Hauser. Y’all are wicked smart…. let’s really dissect this one shall we?

When it comes to group work and collaboration, rare is the person who is successful 100% of the time. Therefore, they will fail some of the time. But why can’t that failure be awesome (and healthy!) like kale?! Nobody enjoys failing, and the experience itself is often miserable [in other words, not just the end result of the collaborative effort fails, but the steps to getting there as well], but there are two possible routes to go after that: label it a failure, pout, and drop it dwell on it, or step back and think about what failed and how to make collaboration a better experience in the future for the group, or, if that’s a lost cause, better for you. Being able to have a less-than-desirable result can lend insight into decision-making processes that you would not be privy to otherwise, and the learnings are there for the taking… if only we will. 

But it’s TOUGH, as the wise men of Kasper Hauser also point out. For instance: You have a brilliant idea. I mean brilliant. To you anyway. You pitch it to a group, and are met by scrutinizing, cynical faces that will never ever help see your idea come to fruition. You OWN that idea though, and it’s just plain insulting and rude that they are pooping all over it!!!!…. right?

WRONG. I mean, the short answer is yes, but maybe there’s something more there. Perhaps you’ve done the same idea-judging to someone else in the past? Perhaps your idea of your own brilliance is inflated and not considering other factors? Perhaps you’re so idealistic that you can’t think about what’s possible to actually implement in context? Maybe your idea was great but your presentation glossed over details that are essential for someone else to understand like you do? It’s not necessarily you, but maybe it is. Some people like kale, some people don’t. There are lots of ways to prepare it; there’s a way to sell it. Your ideas are kale, and no matter happens with that kale, make it count.

AM I RIGHT?!