On a recent Saturday at a skate park, one thing was abundantly clear. Kids trying to execute something new on a skateboard or bike stumble or fall much more often than they succeed. Does that stop them? Absolutely not. They turn right around and take another run at it. And the other kids cheer even the most epic fails with encouragement and praise for the attempt. So why is it that the grown-ups in business can’t behave that way? Maybe we forget what kids know: the path to success is paved with repeated failures. They don’t fear failure yet; that’s something we teach them later. How can you unlearn that most unproductive of lessons and encourage the failures that lead to big successes?
