I’m pondering the nuances of failure.
Last week, I posted on LinkedIn about what I perceived to be a lapse of judgement in picking the subject line of my newsletter for job seeker trying to change industries, “Take it With You“. I chose “Failure to Translate”, but when I opened the email on my phone, I realized it sent an unintended negative message to people who were already dealing with a stressful time. I also know that currently, the majority of reader of my newsletter are female (due to the fact that I initially shared it in a group specifically for women). More about why this matters in a bit.
Part of my husband’s job responsibilities at IBM included “failure analysis”. His job title at the time was engineer, but he’s actually an organic chemist by training. I think it’s interesting how the STEM fields, engineering in particular, embrace failure. And the message my colleagues in the diversity in STEM space are constantly putting out is the one I started my post with:
FAIL is just the First Attempt In Learning
We’re actively encouraging youth to embrace failure in the STEM activities they’re doing as a change to learn something new.
And then there’s the “fail fast, fail often” lean startup mantra. This is how so many Silicon Valley startups are able to survive.
But of course, there’s a double standard related to failure, particularly for women and minorities (racial, disabilities, age etc).
Men, especially white men, who fail and bounce back are celebrated. Women and minorities are seen as “unable to hack it.” And folks with intersectional identities, such as black women, are held to even higher standards (Shellye Archambeau‘s 2021 Forbes article on this topic)
Shellye shares a “resilience toolkit” for black women leader that can guide everyone who is held to a different standard due to their identity. The strategies include:
• Embrace and leverage slights – let them motivate you to do better
• Set a goal, but don’t forget to devise a plan – make a flexible plan instead of waiting for things to come to you
• Find your mentors
• Stumble like a pro – don’t let a setback derail your plans
So what does this mean for my newsletter?
I’m still going to keep my subject lines neutral or positive, but I’m not necessarily banishing “failure” from my vocabulary. Instead, I will continue the process of reframing the term as a learning and growth opportunity.
