CPD from SLT - Failure - your route to success from Ken Winstanley Disappointment, sadness, upset, all emotions associated with failure and yet failure is something that when embraced and accepted can make us stronger and help us grow.
Norman Larson back in 1953 was working for the Rocket Chemical Company and working on a formula for a new chemical water dispersant which would protect metal from rust and corrosion. After multiple failures, his 40th attempt proved successful and so was born water dispersant 40 or WD40 as it is now known. It would have been easy for Norman to quit trying, but each failure allowed him to understand the problem a little better and even though it took nearly two years to succeed, he eventually found the formula that worked. What Norman shows us is that without failure you can’t have success. How do we know anything without all the wrong possibilities being investigated first.
This positive or growth mind set is a powerful one for the children we teach. Let them embrace being wrong, accept they have failed at a task, a question or even an exam. The important aspect is for them to consider what they have learnt from the experience and use it to be better at their next attempt.
