Why the “A” is overshadowing the “I”

To aspire to be more “intelligent” today than yesterday is a laudable aim almost everyone would share. Barring the ravages of any cognitive degenerative diseases we all hope we are getting wiser over time. But at the heart of the concept of “intelligence” is the process of learning. And at the heart of the learning process is the experience of being wrong over and over again. I would argue that you cannot know what “right” looks like without a long track record in “wrong”. To quote Thomas Edison 'I have not failed, but found 1000 ways to not make a light bulb'.?

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A bit like the picture above I have been feeling somewhat crushed by a few of my own mistakes over the last months. Just like Edison, I have found lots of ways how not to make light bulbs. One of my favourite poems below helped me shift my eyes back up to the horizon and recognise the successes as well. Tapping into one of my key strengths that colleagues have joked over the years is my “Bob the builder” mindset… Can we fix it? Yes we can!?

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Whether or not our own journey ends having only created non-light bulbs, I think sharing the experience of some of our mistakes is perhaps much more valuable than signposting a right answer at a click of an AI engine, which skips the learning process altogether.

To live as gently as I can;

To be, no matter where, a man;

To take what comes of good or ill

And cling to faith and honor still;

To do my best, and let that stand

The record of my brain and hand;

And then, should failure come to me,

Still work and hope for victory.

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To have no secret place wherein

I stoop unseen to shame or sin;

To be the same when I'm alone

As when my every deed is known;

To live undaunted, unafraid

Of any step that I have made;

To be without pretence or sham

Exactly what men think I am.

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To leave some simple mark behind

To keep my having lived in mind;

If enmity to aught I show,

To be an honest, generous foe,

To play my little part, nor whine

That greater honors are not mine.

This, I believe, is all I need

For my philosophy and creed.

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My Creed by Edgar Albert Guest??(October 1922)