Why Failure Breeds Success: Thoughts on Digital Media

Digital media is only just reaching it’s maturity. The medium is so young and mainstream use of web technologies is still quite awkward. To believe that everything we build and design is going to be perfect the first time we try is unrealistic. It’s good to be critical and continue raising the bar of what is possible, but failure is still unavoidable. It’s much healthier to embrace the notion of failure as opportunities to learn. We learn more from loss than gain.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about failure. Both in my personal life and professional sphere the idea of what constitutes failure has become an underlining theme. In meetings when new ideas have been proposed they've been continually rejected by those who fear failure.

"X company already tried that and it failed (a statement with no insight into the poor execution or variables)."

"We can't create a concise business case that we're guaranteed uptake so it's safer to keep doing what we're doing (even though no money is coming from what we're currently doing)."

"We thought of doing X years ago, but we didn't have X or Y or Z and now we've moved on. It's too late."

"X worked for Y, but that could never work for us because we're in a different category."

Being a risk taker means not worrying about failure because the risks are calculated and understood. If the exact goal is not succeeded an initiative is not necessarily a failure. Something is always learned and therefore there is always value. Digital media is founded on test and measure - not waiting for an answer to fall into your lap. In order to be in this business you must have a thick skin and be able to rebound quickly.

I read recently in a parenting book that you should never offer an option to a child that you are not prepared to allow them to fulfil. Being passive aggressive involves believing that other people can infer a meaning from subtle to non-literal cues. So often we believe that other people are psychics and able to pick up our non-actions as well as our actions. Or we try to control others and the world around us because we fear failure. The more we try to control digital media the less we grow. And being passive aggressive just wastes time. You might as well just stick your head and in the sand and wait for everyone to understand digital media as well as they understand traditional media. (I'll tap your shoulder is about 5-10 years.)

Some say that it takes 20 years to be able to make accurate inferences about individuals we know intimately. And if we apply that concept to ourselves or to our work it is reasonable to think that we’re destined to fail more than we succeed. That was the case for me, it took me about 20 years to really know myself and ten years later I’m still fine tuning my relationship with myself. Communication is a fine art, and so to is predicting user behaviour online. It takes time and a lot of trial and error.

My Dad used to call it “pulling a Jessica” - when I'd spontaneously try something and fail. I failed a lot as a kid and upon failing I gave up. Not to suggest my Dad was putting me down. He is a very wise man who helped me understand that what makes me different are my greatest assets. The trick is to apply what is different to benefit others and not become a reclusive introvert. If I think about my differences as hindrances I'd never try new things because I'd fear failure. I believe it's why I gravitated to digital media. Trying things and failing is a part of my personality. But as I've grown up I've realised that failing is no reason to give up - it's only the beginning.

“Life exists as a million deaths and a million rebirths.” - Toni Childs

Reading in the Brave New World

We exist in a consumer society - I hope I’m not stating anything new to you with that statement. Our current challenge is how to remain hardcore consumers while minimizing our carbon footprint. I’d say, reducing the amount of bleached, heavily treated paper is a good start.

After years working for a major book retailer I can assess that people want options, and the way we read has been changed forever by new media. As an example, it’s surprising to discover magazines and newspapers without any online presence except to list statistical information concerning their distribution and ways to advertise. Forget about seeing an App or podcast available. Instead of embracing new directions there seems to be a sadness over the dwindling sales of printed material and traditional media. There are also concerns that modern communication and information searching tools will injure our intelligence.

Luckily there are experts on the subject and we don’t need to continue scratching our heads over how to understand the reading brain. Maryanne Wolf, is a cognitive neuroscientist and child development expert from Tufts University and author of the exceptional book, Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain

“Human beings were never born to read,” she writes, “Reading is a human invention that reflects how the brain rearranges itself to learn something new.”

Contrary to what your 3rd grade english teacher led you to believe reading is an evolutionary exercise and doesn’t follow an intrinsically strict rule book. If language and reading were to remain the same we’d still be saying ‘thou’ and ‘shalt’ instead of ‘you’ and ‘should’. The main difference in these contemporary times is that technology is at the helm of consumption. New forms of communication are altering spelling and causing the older generations to squirm at the sight of lol, brb, and whatever other forms of new speak the kids are talking these days.

While I can’t say that I’d jump at the thought of reading a book or even short story written entirely through IM abbreviations it would be an interesting visual representation of the times. After all, isn’t that what most art tries to achieve? The classics that define our culture will never die because adaption ensures their survival.

Finally, tools such as Literature Map will take care of those pesky publicists who believe their opinion should dictate which books are worth reading. Peer to peer sharing and personalized recommendations are how I want to find new authors and books worth my time and money.

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