But the truth is, as much as I like to nit and pick and
parody for a few chuckles and snickers, I have a hard time talking about
failure in any way that’s actually productive.
I’m not the only one with this problem.
At work yesterday we watched a fascinating Ted Talk by David
Damberger of Canadian-based Engineers without Borders. From the just
title, “What happens when an NGO admits failure,” you can get a pretty good idea of where he’s headed.
In a sweep of boldness and vulnerability, he shares
failures, and lots of them. How Engineers without Borders has failed. How the
aid world has failed. Even how he personally has failed to make the impact he
had hoped.
It’s tough stuff.
But it’s also refreshing. Even hopeful.
If we don’t acknowledge our failures, how will we move past
them? How can we expect to not repeat our mistakes if we don’t know our
mistakes?
I work in marketing and development for a similar type of
NGO. I can’t imagine sending out a Failure Report instead of a Progress Report
to a donor. But I think we do a pretty good job of admitting our failures
internally. And it’s the times we talk about failure that we actually learn.
That we actually grow. That we actually embody our desire to innovate and improve
lives.
It’s not much different than confessing our sins. We admit
our mistakes and failings. We ask forgiveness. We move forward. We learn. We
grow. We move a bit closer to becoming who God created us to be.
If that’s the case, I need to wrap up this post and sign
off. I’ve got a lot more failing to do.
And whether you’re an aid criticism junkie (like me) or just
someone who generally fears failure (like most of us), I highly recommend
taking the 13 minutes to watch the video below.
What about you? Do you have trouble talking about failure? What did you
think of the video? Do you think it will benefit aid organizations to be more
open about failure?
Loved this post (and the video!). Thanks for sharing it with me!
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