Failing Fools

I overheard someone complimenting another this morning with the words, “…that’s why he’s so good at what he does. He’s not afraid to make a fool of himself.” I find this interesting. It’s not a new concept; in fact, it’s one that I’ve heard exhorted many times. That in order to be really great at something, you have to be willing to not only fail, but fail with flair.

I am generally not someone who is willing to fail. It’s actually something that I’ve been anticipating coming up in one of my first conversations with my supervisor in a few weeks. “What are you hoping to get from this experience?” “The ability to fail.” It’s not so much that right now I never fail, but the fact that I try not to put my self in positions in which I believe I will fail. I never do anything that I don’t know I can already do to some degree of competency. This generally doesn’t work if one wants to get anywhere.

This, of course, begs the question – where are you trying to get, and why? Why should I need to “get” anywhere? It’s one thing to continue to change over the course of life because that’s just what humans do, whether they want to or not. Situations and experiences and conversations and people shape us. But it’s another to seek change. And for what benefit? The faith would teach us that we don’t become “better” and that God loves and saves us no matter where and who we are. So the point? None that I can see. And yet it is something that is generally upheld as a virtue: the desire for and the accomplishment of growth. The need to be “great”.

So is there really an impasse? Can we embrace failure for the sake of learning and not for the sake of greatness? Can we fail others for the sake of others and not simply to “further” ourselves? But at the same time never actually aim for failure? Is it possible to truly accept the change that happens in ourselves that comes as a result of life, yet not try to create “inner change” ourselves? What would that look like?