It seems that every news cycle for the last few months has been dominated by the nations economic situation and the efforts being made to stabilize and revive it. After yet another story of a failing company pleading for a bailout as its only option for survival I was reminded of a story from my childhood.
I started playing soccer when I was in the 2nd grade. I loved it. In fact, I still remember all the different t-shirt colors of the teams I played on. I can picture the different parks we would play at – both the warm days and the frigid games when my parents watched from the warmth of a running vehicle. Even the smells of fresh-cut grass and orange slices for a halftime snack are vivid. I really enjoyed playing, and I wasn’t too bad. After a few seasons of watching packs of kids run after a ball with total disregard for specific positions, the decision was made that it was time for me to join a club team. This was the big time. The team was made up of guys who excelled at the Park & Rec level and had their sights set on something more. The jerseys, the coaches and the opponents were all legit. I quickly found myself on the bench, often never being put into the game unless we were way ahead or behind by an insurmountable score.
After no playing time for several games, my parents decided to get involved. They talked with the coach and told him to put me in and give me a chance…at least make the drive to the game worth their time. My coach reluctantly obliged and put me in for a few extra minutes each game. I didn’t really do much and I could tell the coach was praying that the ball didn’t come my way. The reality of the situation became apparent -- I was terrible.
Looking back, I think my parent’s pleading with my coach for game time minutes did me a major disservice. I know it sprung from love and a desire for me to not feel bad about myself. However, they unintentionally communicated to me that my lack of playing time was the coach’s fault and shielded me from taking any responsibility for how I arrived at that position in the first place or how I was going to get out. I was protected from failure.
You know what I wish would have happened? I wish my dad would have sat me down and told me I wasn’t playing because I wasn’t any good and that the only way to get more playing time was to get better. What if he had taken me and a soccer ball to a park some afternoon and run me through some skill training to help me improve? The lesson learned might have been different.
A few years later I started playing basketball and again became friends with the bench. This time no parental intervention came, so I quit. It was only my coach’s pushing and prodding for practice and improvement, paired with the belief that I would succeed that convinced me to give it another shot.
Are we cultivating the wrong attitudes and teaching the wrong lessons with the pass of every bailout bill and taxpayer-funded loan program? Just like my parents’ decision to protect me from failure in the moment did not serve me well long-term, businesses that are shielded from failure are also missing a vital learning opportunity.
Don’t we live in the land of opportunity? The place where people from around the globe have immigrated for a couple hundred years now to be free from having their future dictated to them by a government, class system or religious tradition? A country where parents tell their children they can be anything they want to be and really believe it.
If this is really true, then inherent in the opportunity for success is the potential for failure.
Failure is not a bad thing. Failure challenges us to take responsibility for the problem and the solution. It teaches us not to pass the buck. In a recent interview about the auto industry bailout, I heard a lawmaker say, “I can’t bear to think of all those people losing their jobs if we don’t help the industry.” To bail out the auto industry may be nice in the short-term and I certainly hate to see people lose their jobs, but at what point does our desire to never hurt anyone’s feelings actually hurt our long-term viability.
Failure ultimately contributes to superior products and services because it necessitates innovation and competition.
The American automakers need to realize that they have missed it. Toyota, Honda, and others are not lining up for government handouts – they made the right decisions. GMC, Chrysler and Ford evidently didn’t. They have to pay the consequences and make the changes necessary to compete and be viable.
My dad is a builder. If he builds a house and no one buys it, he is forced to do some self-analysis and figure out how he is going to compete in the market. Was his price point off? Did the house fit the neighborhood? Was his marketing lacking? Were there design or structural flaws? The answers to these questions will provide a launching point for future success. If my dad gets a bailout package, there is no incentive to answer these questions. It was a fluke, the customer doesn’t know better, the market isn’t fair -- the possibilities for excuses are endless.
Facing our failures –personally, corporately and nationally – takes guts and humility. It can also make us better. How does our economy get better? With a little backbone, a willingness to work and take responsibility, and the courage to face failure.
I thank thee that I am none of the wheels of power but I am one with the living creatures that are crushed by it.
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Posted by: cams | March 14, 2011 at 01:01 AM
Carol - I agree that we need to offer opportunities to others and chances are that when we innovate and develop successful products there will be opportunities for others as a result.
Posted by: Aaron Stern | March 04, 2009 at 04:03 PM
Great article Aaron. I'd like to add a few things. Yes, America is the land of opportunity. We are given opportunities, but we also need to offer opportunities. So many bask in all the opportunities given to them but don't turn around and give a chance to those hoping for a similar opportunity to come their way. They are too busy making the most of their opportunities to offer any to other people who may be in the situation they once were in. If it is in our power to do good, we should. If we are in a position to offer opportunities, then we should, rather than just taking all the opportunities we can.
Posted by: Carol Prentiss | February 25, 2009 at 02:49 PM
Tamar - thanks for your comment. In an effort to raise four boys in a world that can be unfair I am definitely interested in your book. I will pick it up. As parents we have a desire to protect from hurt but in the end we would do them a better service to teach them how to navigate the hurt.
Colin - great to hear from you. Without an incentive to improve, complacency sets in that kills excellence. Or energy is given to excellence in areas that should be eliminated. Bailouts prohibit the market from communicating.
Terra - So true. Our tendency is always to rationalize, deflect and minimize responsibility. Taking full responsibility isn't always easy but necessary for future growth.
Scott - my bad on including Ford in the list of those receiving bailout money. I think I was thinking only about the fact that they were part of the initial meetings with Congress about the need for help.
Cassie - it definitely isn't always easy but produces the best for everyone in the end.
Posted by: Aaron Stern | February 08, 2009 at 04:15 PM
Wonderful article, thank you! Your understanding of the importance of failure will help greatly in your work as a college pastor. Kids today take the wrong messages away from their "failure" experiences-- they decide that it's permanent and final and they shouldn't try. Failure can be a great motivator (and there is no such thing as a total failure).
I devote an entire chapter of my new book, Freeing Your Child from Negative Thinking: Powerful, Practical Strategies to Build a Lifetime of Resilience, Flexibility and Happiness, to the topic of teaching kids how to "fail, lose, and handle jealousy and disappointment." These are skills, they can be taught.
If you are interested in reading an excerpt, or reading an article that I've written for parents and one for educators on overcoming negative thinking, please check out my website: www.freeingyourchild.com.
All best to you,
Tamar Chansky
Posted by: Tamar Chansky | February 07, 2009 at 08:45 AM
Aaron, you are right. You make a great point about how the short term "stimulus" legislation and bailouts will save jobs now, but the long term implications could be devastaing. I heard a Harvard economist make that point on CNN yesterday, in fact. He mentioned that it was crazy amounts of spending and debt that got us into this, so how could more crazy amounts of spending and incurring a whole lot of new debt get us out?
All this bailout language smells of one thing we might start to expect to see a little more of in the future: mediocrity.
Posted by: Collin O'Bryant | February 06, 2009 at 04:41 PM
LOL! I find it hilarious that your post actually elicited a response from Ford Motor Company. Wow!
Anyway, I think the over arching point is that human nature never wants to take responsibility. We always have to blame someone else for our failures, lackings, etc. Even if the "playing field" was perfectly level as Mr Monty and others would like it to be, the best would always rise to the top. Jesus never promised us equality with each other just equality in our standing before God. A world view that doesn't see man as innately sinful has trouble with that!
Posted by: Terra Fisk | February 06, 2009 at 03:41 PM
No, Ford did not receive any government loans. We began our transformation plan two years ago and are continuing on that path. Our statement from December can be found here: http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=29549
You also might look into how much government assistance the Japanese automakers have gotten from their governments over time. It's not a level playing field.
Scott Monty
Global Digital Communications
Ford Motor Company
Posted by: Scott Monty | February 06, 2009 at 10:13 AM
AMEN!! That is so true. I own a restaurant and when things get rocky and sales are down due to competition, economy, or whatever. I am forced to ask myself these same questions and many creative and innovative things have come from it. Great blog, thanks!
Posted by: Cassie Strong | February 05, 2009 at 11:13 PM