How Might I Fail Next?

Use your blindsides to improve your vision

It is hard to adapt to change quickly…

Can you see where you are most likely to stumble? And if you see that, will it help you avoid such disaster, or even the possibility of it?

Way back when, when I was just starting out in the film business and was so happy just to get a PA gig on any bad film, I was standing around on set one day, hoping something good would happen. I think it was an electric who walked by me and asked me what I was doing. “Standing by” I said, adopting the walkie-talkie vernacular as best I could. “Spot the problem before it happens,” he said. “That’s your job,” and off he went. I listened and adopted it as my motto; I think it made me a much better Production Assistant. And a Producer.

It has taken us awhile to adopt failure as part of our creative practice. I wasn’t a good student in the traditional sense. I didn’t really aspire to good grades, but I did aspire to learn – and I think that was more helpful in the long run. I don’t feel the need to prove what I know, just the passion to always be learning. You can see this in my writing style – in that it would definitely be better if I could edit more, but I am more interested in sharing the ideas and then moving on to the next thing. Still, I like to think I get better. I listen. I revisit. I question. I admit my mistakes. And I apologize.

I am sorry. Forgive me.

Thanks to that electrician’s intervention, I became a better PA. I never let an abandoned water bottle just sit there. The cables across a doorway? I covered them with a rubber mat. The cars I parked were always nose out for a quick getaway and if I had the time, I filled the tank when it dropped below half. Yeah, I cared about where the bathroom signs were posted and liked to make sure the craft service table had serving spoons. If you are reading this now, I suspect you too learned somewhere to spot the problems before they happen too.

Did we all forget that sage advice somewhere in the process? Have we abandoned our defense mechanisms? Are we courting disaster by allowing what we once called failure and now perceive as learning moments and inflection points to enter our creative process? Can we head somethings off at the pass if we take the time to consider where it is most likely we will fail next? I think the contemplation of such things is another element to bring into your creative and professional process. Own up to weakness and you will strengthen it just by doing so.

When I write a strategy document these days – that’s the sort of thing I do for fun – I include an examination of where I will most likely fail.