John Paul said, "I like the freedom of former errors, misjudgement,
efforts that were too harsh, and efforts without awareness of resulting
[in] hurtful effects becoming voided and no longer on my account."
And Roy responded, "This certainly must be a cultural component of
successful learning organizations. If I am handicapped by fear of
permanent retribution for my errors, I am likely to actively avoid making
mistakes, or to hide them when they do occur. In the former case, my
contribution to the organization is limited. In the latter, I may be
hiding information that is crucial to the organization....There seems a
broad consensus that creativity is nurtured by an atmosphere of benevolent
acceptance of error. In fact, if you examine learning, you may find that
one has not "learned" about something by merely doing the right things.
By doing only the right things, one does not discover the dimensions of
the envelope. Only by doing the wrong things occasionally, will one
define the boundaries of knowledge about the subject."
** end quotes **
Failed experiments come in all sizes, and some can be very large. For a
normal, caring individual, there is not an easy path for achieving the
freedom from those past mistakes once the mistakes become very large and
looming in your mind. For John Paul I believe he said that after much
agonizing over a long period of time it 'just came to him' (forgive me if
I misquote you) that he did not need to carry that burden any longer. But
is there a process that helps you let go of that past mistake or failed
experiment? I think there is.
Roy alludes to permanent retribution, and of course that is one
alternative that is all too common. For me, as for Roy and John Paul,
healthy organizations do not practice retribution. For me, however,
neither do they just wipe the slate clean.
A great organization will help (and insist) that the individual do two
things, a) learn from the failure, and b) grieve for the hurt of others if
any.
These are costly, painful, and wonderful steps to take. At the end, the
person will have learned what can be learned, will be able to really let
go of the mistake, aand the organization will have gained a stronger
asset. In the absence of learning and grieving, though, there is no value
to the experiment.
-- Rol Fessenden LL Bean 76234.3636@compuserve.com