Mathew Holmes said:
" A little quote (I have forgotten the source) that I like is 'Imagine
what you could do if you could not fail'. I have developed this for my
personal use to read 'Imagine what I can do now I know I cannot fail'. I
have effectively eliminated risk for myself by reframing it. Any outcome
is positive because I have learnt through it. In my view the idea that
learning involves pain is one of the biggest hindrances to the development
of Learning Organisations. "
Mathew-
You may have eliminated risk for yourself by reframing the quote above but
it sounds like you have burdened yourself with perfectionism. Eventually
perfectionism is paralyzing. It is one thing to be confident and quite
another to believe, expect and anticipate that you can not fail. The
question is, is this reality? I'm all for setting sights high and
striving for excellence but where is the honesty in telling yourself that
you _know_ that you _cannot fail_? Could it be that you can't fail because
you set your standards low enough to readily achieve success? (that's a
theoretical question, not meant as an insult)
If your motto was mistakes are steppingstones to learning mightn't you be
more accepting of the realities of risk? Can there really be learning
without risk of some type or degree? (Consider Piaget's theory of
equilibration)
I also wonder whether the word "fail" is appropriate in the context of
learning. Is a mistake failure? If you make a mistake because you shifted
your weight too much to one side when learning to ride a bike and the
mistake caused you to fall, did you fail or did you learn how to ride the
bike better the next go 'round? Maybe it is a matter of perspective (is
the glass half full or half empty).
As far as learning involving pain, maybe a more appropriate or descriptive
word is frustration. To my mind frustration is a necessary step in
learning if it is thought of as an imbalance between what we know and a
new piece of knowledge that doesn't fit into our existing mental
framework. The motivation to eliminate the uncomfortable feeling
(frustration) caused by this inner or mental conflict leads us to a
solution called learning. Piaget said that the acts of intelligence
consist of adapting to new situations. Isn't this a risk?
I'm glad that the turned around quote works for you but for me it doesn't
make much sense. Maybe I am being too literal in my interpretation.
wendy fein
fein@mail.idt.net
--w fein <fein@IDT.NET>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>