Leaning from your mistakes (the smart way)
Mistakes are made.
We all know that. And we all hope that these mistakes will be made by someone except us. But this world does not work like that.
I have been writing a bit about my team working remotely, and how it was challenging yet very exciting and rewarding. I also mentioned how much it was important to have clear communication and be creative in your endeavors to help each other understand the task you are all working on. I even learned how to push myself to the limit and dare to do something I have never thought I might, like, creating my own mockup without any design skills and just my desire to do a great job.
I was hoping that we were going to go farther. That we are going to shine in the semifinal or get one more award, at least, but we did not.
I was extremely sorrow and did not know what to say the day the results were announced. We worked so hard, we laughed a lot about the ideas and implementations, we worked out a concept and everything seemed to be great. We were sure, we were doing the right thing.
And yet, we did not go any farther.
I was sad and even turned off the phone because I did not want to accept the fact of failing. I did not want to think that happened to me and I thought that if I do not see this “We regret to inform…” it will not hurt that much.
But I was wrong. That was not the line of the letter that hurt so much.
That was me. I was hurting myself and thinking bad about myself. I was making my day worthless.
We are taught that making mistakes it is bad. That you should stop making them as soon as possible. In some cases, you have to conceal or hide that you make mistakes and never accept the fact that you did this. It was not you, you were not sure what you were doing.
And this is a very self-destructive approach.
I was listening to Professor Game Podcast today in the morning during my commute and the guest of the day was Dr. Zac Fitz-Walter, a gamification expert, sharing his wisdom on his personal website. I was not looking for something, in particular, to make me feel better, but suddenly the host and Dr. Fitz-Walter started talking about failures. Failures that you have to accept and use to your advantage. It’s strikingly different from the traditional approach of hiding or concealing your mistakes.
Mistakes help you grow. As a professional and even as an individual. No matter what you do, it is impossible to avoid mistakes, especially in the field where nobody has ever stepped before. For example, this new gamification trend, that I like so much, in the stage of being developed. There is so much to discover and discovery is impossible without mistakes.
If you do not do anything, you will never lose. But yet, you will never win either.
I am still sad that we did not make it to the final, but I know how to deal with my failures now: enjoy them. And, even if it’s possible, see them as levels in a game I am playing every day. Today I failed to beat the greatest boss on the location. But… What stops me from coming back with more loot and skill next time? Because the game is on!
