What my newborn taught me about failing
We welcomed a little girl into the world a few weeks ago and already I’ve learned a lot. One of the first nights she was home I was up with her and she was wailing. No matter what I tried I couldn’t calm her down and then I melted down. It was about that time my husband woke up and calmed her.
I work in innovation and my clients always are dealing with risk. They put their careers, funding and sometimes the money that supports their families on the line.
As much as the product community celebrates failure, it still sucks. Failure can change our relationships, the way we approach risk and our ability to prioritize. The only difference between me and a new client is that I am prepared for failure intellectually and emotionally.
My daughter reminded me that when things go wrong you need to keep working the problem and stay focused on your objective. My husband reminded me how helpful someone with an outside perspective can be. I’ll keep these memories with me when I go back to working with clients.
Image: That’s my girl
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