Why I want you to fail this year
No, I don’t want you to have a bad year. But a safe year, with nothing learned? That’s a bad year. Failing can be good! And being afraid to fail? Not so good.
An example: I know I need to refresh my website. No, check that. I know it needs an overhaul. But I’m tied in knots about making the right choices – how it should look, how it should read, all of it. Meantime, here we are.
Not so smart, right?
I’ve found many colleagues are perfectionists, too. Maybe in our business, where what we do can affect real lives, that’s understandable. We keep at it until it’s just right. We fear mistakes.
But here’s why that’s not always smart.
Failure is a great way to learn
I’ll bet you didn’t begin to walk without falling. Most of us don’t get straight As in school. If you’re like me, some of the best lessons have come when I’ve blown it. I still remember some of the words I missed on the SATs. The paper I nearly failed in college. The blown job interview. I learned from every one.
But I read something interesting in the Harvard Business Review. Research shows people who don’t take responsibility don’t learn. We’ve got to own it to grow from it.
You have to risk failing to do something great
I remember listening to Zelda Fichandler, the visionary founder of Arena Stage in Washington DC, talk about failure. She urged us as an organization to embrace it. Certainly, as an artist, it’s critical. Safe theater is boring, meaningless, and usually unimportant. She knew if she wanted to do something great, she’d need to take some big leaps into the unknown.
And as I’ve confessed, the fear of failing can keep you from getting things done. That’s not helpful, is it?
Good fails
So here are some examples of good failures. The kind you shouldn’t fear as you fundraise.
Call it testing
If you never try something new, you’ll never know what really works. This isn’t about new for new’s sake. This is about planned failure. The kind you try, because failure is the way to learn.
So go ahead and use the appeal that always works. (See Mark Phillips’ great piece on that.) But set aside a segment of your list and give it a considered tweak. You’ll learn something.
If you don’t ask…
If you’re afraid of failure with your donors you’ll never ask them to help. They might say no. But rejection is also a chance to learn and even build the relationship. Plan your graceful response. Listen well. Then brush off the rejection and focus on the long-term relationship with the donor.
Maybe you hesitate to email your list often, for fear of losing subscribers. But if you don’t ask, then those names on a list will forever be just names on a list. You’re not giving them a chance to become more involved.
Innovation and honesty
When you report to funders, honesty about what worked and what didn’t may help you build stronger relationships. If your funders are serious about solving problems, they’ll want to learn from your experience.
On the other hand…
Failure isn’t always good. If you’re not failing for a reason, or you’re not learning something from your mistakes, then you’re wasting opportunities.
Here are some failures that aren’t so beneficial.
Not doing the work
“Thank you letters are so much trouble. I’ll just print off receipts and send those. Maybe we’ll send one letter at the end of the year.”
“I don’t have time to update the database. It’s close enough. Just use last year’s list for the mailing.”
“Segmenting the lists? Boring. Just ask everyone for the same amount.”
“I’ll just wing this meeting. Who needs research?”
Don’t fail because you’re lazy. Fail because you’re smart and want to get smarter.
And yes, hold me to it. I WILL get this website spiffed up this year. (And make mistakes doing it.)
typingandthinking says
I really enjoyed reading this!! Well written!!
Mary Cahalane says
Beth, thank you for your comment. Unfortunately, it found it’s way into a spam folder! I apologize for not responding sooner. Here’s to a great 2015!
typingandthinking says
Aw man! You’re welcome!!
greatergoodfundraising says
As a former teacher, I know that one learns far more from their mistakes than they do from their successes. If you don’t make mistakes, you aren’t trying hard enough. I also agree that one must own their mistakes to gain from them. Don’t blame your mistakes on others. Learn from them and grow.
Mary Cahalane says
It all makes sense, Richard. Just not always easy to do. Necessary, but not always easy.
Gingerheaddad says
It’s like you have a window on my week. I made a spectacular mistake on the last day of 2014. At this point, it looks like a mistake that had some very impressive and positive results. The fact that the sun came up the next day is cool, but what I learned from that mistake is giving me a lot of interesting ideas for the year ahead.
I am just honing in on one part of your post, but it’s the part that is sticking with me right now.
Mary Cahalane says
I love that! And I have to admit I’m really curious about what it was that had such results. Glad it worked out well!
Gingerheaddad says
You can expect an email about it. My immediate response was the whole thing was going to create a huge headache, but donors responded warmly. I know we sometimes talk about the “planned mistake” but sometimes the unplanned ones give us expected and positive outcomes that challenge our assumptions. Does that qualify as vaguebooking?
Mary Cahalane says
Not if I get the email!
Dennis Fischman says
Okay, but WHEN will you get the website spiffed up, and what are the steps you’ll take leading up to it? (Trying to be a helpful nag here!)
Mary Cahalane says
Thanks for that. I’m getting close!