Why Stumbling is Okay
Suzanne Lucas
Keynote Speaking | Writing | Webinars | ChatGPT for HR | Improv Comedy | If you want to know how to be a better HR leader, you've come to the right place.
When we fail, we fail with joy. But failure isn't something we want to happen. It happens when we screw up, and if we were just better at what we did, we'd never fail!
Sure. When you reach perfection, let me know. The rest of us aren't there yet. And because we aren't perfect, not only will we fail, we need to stumble.
Stumbling is okay. It's needed. Here's why.
You can only learn some things on the stage.
Improv comedy is one of those things that you can't just read a book about and then get up and perform it flawlessly. And there is no flawless in improv anyway. You have to practice and then get up on a stage and make a glorious fool of yourself.
The same, incidentally, is true with stand-up comedy, but this is Improv Your HR and not stand-up your HR. (Fun story: I've been taking a stand-up comedy class and did my first set in front of a live audience. It went okay, but I wore pink pants. And it turns out that under the stage lights, my pink pants looked like I was wearing no pants. So, I don't know if people laughed at my jokes or at the fact that I looked pantsless on stage.)
You can't coach an employee or interview a candidate without making mistakes the first time you do it. You have to try. You have to make mistakes. It's literally the only way to learn.
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You can have a coach sitting in with you while you interview your first candidate or counsel your first employee, but you will still stumble.
You absolutely cannot learn without making mistakes
Practice makes perfect, you might say, at which point someone will butt in and say, "Ahem, perfect practice makes perfect." At this point, you become a little bit closer to overall perfection yourself if you refrain from bopping them in the nose.
You can only practice perfectly once you've practiced imperfectly. We don't expect it from anyone but ourselves. You are going to make mistakes. You have to make mistakes. If you are not making mistakes, then whatever you are doing is too easy, and it's time for you to move to the next adventure. (That is, if you want to get better--if you're happy where you are, that's fine. Stay there.)
We talk about learning and development but must emphasize that stumbling and failing are essential parts of L&D. Go forth. Stumble. Fail. Then, laugh it off and get going forward.
Also, maybe don't wear pink pants on stage if you're a pasty white person like I am.
IT Product Owner for Robotic Process Automation (RPA) for WMPC TECH at UBS
1 年This time, I think your PANTIES have come down ?? ??
Retired
1 年Your reads are perfection in the HR world, thank you for the support. ??
Precast Concrete, LBM, Construction Supplies, Higher Education, Comedy, and Family
1 年"If you are not making mistakes, then whatever you are doing is too easy". This highlights the problem with the US education system. By focusing on grades instead of learning, kids don't develop the ability to take risks. The past few decades we have moved from curving grades to simply lowering expectations to allow kids to feel successful. This kicks the can to employers who now have to teach employees that it is ok to try and fail.
Human Resources Executive ? Organizational Design & Development ? Employee Relations ? Transforming Cultures
1 年I tell my team..."If we're not making mistakes, we're not growing and getting better."
Engineering and R&D Recruiter | Proverbs 19:21
1 年Was it on purpose to have a typo in the picture? ?? kinda a visual of “stumbling” if you will? Great content though. It’s hard navigating all the grey