1. Preparation II

Besides learning from others it is obviously also important to learn from yourself. Trial-and-error is the hardest way to learn, but surely also the most impactful. However, the effectiveness of this method is subject to a few key elements.

First, you need enough trial and therefore accept enough error. In order to learn a lot and fast, it is important to embrace and cherish failure AND learn why you failed and how you can adapt your behavior to overcome failure and be successful in the future. Regretfully, it seems that humans are very reluctant to take up that responsibility: “While success has many fathers, failure is an orphan.” And this is certainly a major drawback to success or in the words of the American poet Thomas John Carlisle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_John_Carlisle) “The greatest of all faults, is to be conscious of none.”

The cultural differences towards the acceptance of failure have proven to be quite impactful. The Dutch organizational sociologist Geert Hendrik Hofstede (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofstede) determined that the factor “uncertainty avoidance”, was one of 4 national cultural differentiating drivers of behavior. That key difference between the US and most European countries is a known driver for the acceptance of failure.

Secondly, you need to try and learn from your mistakes. Always ask yourself what you can do differently to change the outcome of your failure or how your behavior enforced the failure.  Don’t always look for the flaws of others first. As Dr. Robert Anthony Beddard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Beddard) states “When you blame others, you give up the power of change” or as Socrates (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates) teaches “Let him that would move the world first move himself.” By losing the power to learn you limit your future success potential.

However, what isn’t easy, isn’t impossible. People are remarkably innovative and robust. Voltaire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltaire) was convinced “No problem can stand the assault of sustained thinking.” Ask yourself every day “What did I learn today from my boss, colleague, employee, my kids, the news, ….?” Take 5 minutes every day before you go to bed. It shouldn’t be groundbreaking, but take many small steps. A Chinese proverb quotes “Be not afraid of growing slowly, be only afraid of standing still.”

For instance: I already learned that running spurs my creativity. It gives me energy, higher oxygen levels, empties my mind of everyday worries and clears it to be able to mentally freewheel. Today I learned that mowing the lawn works just as fine as running and that next time I mow the lawn, I need a pen and a notebook in my pocket. Today, every time I had to empty the lawn mower bag I had 1-2-3 new ideas to write down. The disadvantage was that it took me 2hs to finish instead of 1.

Also here there is well-documented research that confirms cultural differences. Amongst others the “Attributions of Success and Failure – Comparison of Cultural Differences between Asian and Caucasian Children” (http://jcc.sagepub.com/content/11/3/343.abstract) by P.S. Fry from the University of Calgary and R. Ghosh from McGill University. The difference in the attribution of success and failure between Canadian Caucasian and Asian Indian was defined as: “Caucasian subjects took greater personal credit for success and attributed failure to luck, but Asian subjects assumed more personal responsibility for failure and attributed success to luck.”

In Conclusion I’d like to end with a quote of a famous French philosopher, mathematician, physicist and writer: René Descartes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descartes), a lesson to us all “It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.”