A book called Art and Fear shows how indispensably failure is tied to learning. A ceramics teacher divided his class into two groups.
One group would be graded solely on quantity of work—fifty pounds of pottery would be an "A," forty would be a "B," and so on.
The other group would be graded on quality. Students in that group had to produce only one pot-but it had better be good.
One group would be graded solely on quantity of work—fifty pounds of pottery would be an "A," forty would be a "B," and so on.
The other group would be graded on quality. Students in that group had to produce only one pot-but it had better be good.
Amazingly, all the highest quality pots were turned out by the quantity group. It seems that while the quantity group kept churning out pots,
they were continually learning from their disasters and growing as artists. The quality group sat around theorizing about perfection and worrying about it—but they never actually got any better. No pot, no matter how misshapen, is really a failure. Each is just another step on the road to an "A." It is a road littered with imperfect pots, but there is no other road.
From If You Want to Walk on Water,
You've Got to Get Out of the Boat
by John Ortberg
they were continually learning from their disasters and growing as artists. The quality group sat around theorizing about perfection and worrying about it—but they never actually got any better. No pot, no matter how misshapen, is really a failure. Each is just another step on the road to an "A." It is a road littered with imperfect pots, but there is no other road.
From If You Want to Walk on Water,
You've Got to Get Out of the Boat
by John Ortberg
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