Failure is ALWAYS an Option
Culture
Failure is ALWAYS an option. Sometimes it’s the best option. Too often, we drive ourselves off a cliff, trying to avoid a dead end.
Two reasons we do this:
Sunk Cost Fallacy
The belief that investing more time and more money will eventually yield success. Hopefully, a success so great it justifies what we spent to get there. Believing in the sunk cost fallacy will cause us to waste more resources before being forced to admit defeat.
We need to recognize when more is just more, it won’t change the outcome.
Identity Crisis
We wrap our worth around our work. Our thinking turns from “the project failed” to “I’m a failure.” Putting our identity in our work causes us to make terrible choices, ruining relationships and ultimately fulfilling our fears.
You are far more valuable than your work.
Don’t let sunk costs or misplaced identity prevent you from choosing the best option, including allowing the project to die. The best idea has to win, even if the idea is admitting: “This will not work.”
That’s not to say there won’t be consequences to failing. There may be significant consequences, but you will get through it. After all, no one is allowed to eat you.
A storyteller, problem solver, and workshop facilitator, Jason spent the last 20 years serving multiple creative ministry roles, from drama and video production to children’s ministry and curricula to innovation and games.
