I am still thinking about what I heard about health care being a “failure-based system,” and I can’t helping insisting that it’s possible to adapt that failure mindset into a success mindset. What would a success-oriented approach or system look like?
We could start with communication. I actually read something recently that said “The opposite of compliance is failure.” What? I disagree with that wholeheartedly. To me the opposite of compliance is engagement. It’s taking ownership and responsibility and caring about what we’re doing. Above all else it’s making choices, which is autonomy or agency. To me this spells freedom and living well, while defining success as compliance equates to limitations.
Another phrase I heard a lot in a particular high school English class was, “trying is failing.” I get that, and I also think it’s limiting. We have to try (and fail) in order to move forward.
That brings me to preparing for failure and learning from failure. These are ways we can adapt failure into a success-oriented approach. We can think about potential barriers or ways we might fail, and plan for how we’ll handle that. We can learn from failure by trying different ideas. Failing might end up being the best thing that ever happened to us…as long as it happens on our terms, and as long as it is used to set move toward success.