RBTC President Robert McGaden welcomes members to Tech and Toast.
Lisa Bass
Contributing writer
The Roanoke Blacksburg Technology Council, a member-driven association working to promote the growth of the technology community in the region, held its first 2019 networking morning session called “Tech and Toast” at the Inn at Virginia Tech last week.
Following breakfast, members of the technology community learned ways to “succeed at failing” by Dr. Jane Machin, assistant professor of marketing at Radford University.
With experience teaching advertising, marketing communications, creativity and innovation, Machin’s research examines the intersection of decision-making, stigma and consumer well-being.
Machin explained creativity is a process of having original ideas that add value. Businesses, of course, need creativity to fuel profitability, teams performance and innovation. But the unreasonable fear of failure, “kakorrhaphiophobia”, she said often blocks creativity.
“No one wants to look stupid,” Machin said, “which is a learned behavior and becomes a barricade. By not allowing failure, there will be no creativity. Trying is the first step to failure. There are more steps to getting better at failing: admit, permit, reframe and practice.”
But fifty percent of business revenue comes from sources that do not currently exist – that have to be imagined.
“Lots of websites, social media outlets and even organizations are allowing the sharing or admitting failures on personal and business levels,” she said.
In fact, Machin holds that talking about failures helps individuals and society as a whole. In 2010, Finnish university students designated Oct. 13 as International Day of Failure.
Machin said, “I am working with RU to celebrate this day.”
Machin recommends writing a failure resume to note failures in one’s education, work, parenting or life in general, then including lessons learned from those failures. She says it’s a great experience for anyone.
Educators, companies, and parents should encourage risks according to Machin and failure needs to be reframed.
“There are no failures, just experiences,” she said. “Successful people go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. Successful companies do not completely stop a failed project, but continue trying different strategies.”
Machin says there needs to be a willingness to embrace an inventory of ideas and to suffer from failed experiments.
“Like science, there is a hypothesis, testing, results and reattempts,” she said.
Machin recommends several techniques to practice failure.
“While improvisations can be terrifying, try improv in a supportive atmosphere. Try to say “yes and” to unique situations. Try rejection therapy by challenging to break social norms by getting a “no” once a day by asking, for example, to cut into a shopping line or to reduce a credit limit on a credit card.”
Prototyping ideas are a good practice that can be done cheaply and quickly.
Machin quoted, “An eraser works on the draft table but not on a construction site.”
Get in touch with your inner child she advised.
The importance of play should not be forgotten. Children play and fail in safe environments. Take risks, do not self-doubt, break norms and explore. Consider Robert F. Kennedy’s quote, “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly” when setting a corporate environment where failure is accepted.
The RBTC offers a calendar of events to build technology companies as blocks of economic success in this region. Forums, gatherings and other RBTC events provide opportunities for technology leaders to collaborate. For more information visit www.rbtc.tech.