Fail Better
Matt Marais told us about his story from a Product Design Engineer graduate to a founder of the design firm Scratch Ideas Ltd., about the story of a camera strap, which was designed and redesigned and redesigned, about how to fail better.
He started with a ModPod, continued to a design of a Slidestrap, which was crowdfunded with kickstarter. The same concept was redesigned again to Loki, a professional and portable camera gear. But beside this he mentioned a bunch of interesting quotes.
Ever tried, ever failed, no matter,
Try again, fail again, fail better. Samuel Beckett
What is failing exactly. It is defined as a usually slight or insignificant defect in character, conduct, or ability. To me failing is a pretty harsh word. It means you did not succeed in any aspect. So how do the words fail and better go together, when failing means none of it was good. And I think that’s the point. There are positive aspects to failing. You gain experience, you can figure out, why you failed and hopefully you learn. Take this all together and failing seems like a good university course.
I’ve not failed, I’ve just found 10000 ways it won’t work. Thomas A. Edison
Instead of focusing on the negative word failing, this quote focusses on the positive word finding. But concentrating on the positive is harder than it sounds, but probably worth it. If I don’t get the grades I wished for in the end of the year, I am disappointed. But I tried, instead of moaning about it, to focus on how much I learned. If I compare my portfolio this year with the one last year, I am stunned how much I improved and how many skills I gained. If I put this in relation to a number on a paper, I don’t feel like I failed anymore. That brings us to our next quote.
Concentrate on the Why, then the How and in end on the What. Simon Sinek
Who am I? I would traditionally start with the What?, I am from Germany, I study Product Design Engineering….But Simon Sinek says, that’s of no interest to the one that asks. It’s the Why? I am very motivated to make this world a more sustainable place, protecting wildlife, nature and humanity. Then the How? I think the best way of achieving this is by improving our technology and consumer behavior. And in the end the What? That’s why I study Product Design Engineering, to combine engineering with innovation to make a change. That’s more interesting. When explaining yourself, your brand or your product, that’s the order to be followed. And while we are at promoting your product, Matt said something himself during his talk, which I would like to use as a quote here.
If you keep it to yourself, it won’t go anywhere, so what does it matter? Matt Marais
It was said in the context of patenting a product. Patenting is expensive and not feasible in the beginning. But without telling anyone about your idea, you won’t get help and support. And without help and support, this idea is only going to stay an idea. So instead of being scared someone might steal your idea, hope that someone loves your idea. Back again to positive thinking.
Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right. Henry Ford
And that’s where we end. It is your mind set that makes you fail or achieve. If you think you can’t do it, you won’t be able to do it. You were right. But if you believe in yourself, you’ll find the energy to success. You were right.
