Extraordinary Outcomes: Shaping an Otherwise Unpredictable Future

6Acknowledge, Learn, CorrectFail Fast, Fail Early, Fail Cheap. Don't Quit.

Will failure make you bitter, or will it make you better?

—John Maxwell

You can't leave a lasting footprint if you're always walking on tiptoe.

—Marion Blakey Chair of the Federal Aviation Administration

In our quest to shape the future, there will be missteps, unintended consequences, encounters with the unexpected, bad breaks, and maybe even heartbreaks. Fear of failure paralyzes many and keeps them from even starting the journey. In this chapter, we will share ideas for growing emotional resilience, developing the mind-set of practice and perseverance, and learning as a way of life.

Fear

In a television interview, Steven Spielberg was asked about an unusual painting hanging in his office. The painting is Boy on a High Dive, a Norman Rockwell picture of a young boy on a high diving board, lying on his stomach and clutching the board, looking down terrified.

When asked if this was his favorite Norman Rockwell painting, Spielberg said, “Well, let's put it this way: This is the Rockwell that, every time I'm ready to make a movie, every time I'm ready to commit to direct a movie, that's me—that's the feeling in my gut, before I say ‘yes’ to a picture. Because every movie is like looking off a three-meter diving board, every one.”¹

If Steven Spielberg, arguably one of the most successful film directors of our time, feels this way when he starts new projects, what about the rest of us when we try new things?! ...