QUOTATION 90

ALAN KAY ON THE VALUE OF FAILURE

Use this to remind you that the best lessons often are learnt through failure.

Alan Kay (b. 1940) is an American computer scientist and winner of the Turing Award. He suggests that:

If you don’t fail 90 per cent of the time, you’re not aiming high enough.

Alan Kay

WHAT TO DO

  • Adopt the Americans’ attitude towards failure. In Britain, failure is seen as shameful. Those that fail seldom return for more ritual humiliation. Yet, in America, failure is seen as a learning opportunity. Indeed, many highly successful entrepreneurs have had two or three failures under their belt before they hit the motherlode.
  • Use your learning journal to analyse your mistakes and failures and identify what you did ...

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