Failure is an option that is finally getting explored in Ireland. It’s now starting to trickle through that trying something and failing is not the sin it once was. Many have been saying for years how in Silicon Valley people are trusted almost more if they have previously done something and failed. It’s not the failure per se but it’s the experience gained from work and being at the coal face. In Silicon Valley it’s “hard luck, what are you doing next?”. In Ireland it’s been a case of “Oh that guy failed, should you really do business with him?” It still exists too. Lots of companies merged or were acquired in recent years to save face.
There’s a definite culture thing at play here. Good old Catholic guilt probably contributes to this. Communities via the pulpit have always been encouraged to knock anyone that rises about their “station”. Possibly tied to that is the excuse about bankruptcy laws in Ireland. I’m not convinced strict bankruptcy laws are holding people back.
If struck off it’s hard to start new business yet there are plenty who never go as far as being struck off. Plenty of people have risen above being struck off and have done well for themselves. If bankruptcy laws are holding you back are you not creative enough or are you too risk averse?
It seems like years ago but at a conference in March Dylan Collins amongst others talked about embracing failures and mistakes and learning from them. “We have to be proud of our mistakes – It’s how we learn.”
Any fans of James Burke and his Connections programmes will know of the way discoveries throughout history were more to do with lots of trials and their errors moreso than eureka moments. A “good” failure allows the lessons learned to be applied elsewhere and lots of these combined becomes a new discovery.
Just like the scammers swarmed into seo and social media though, now I wonder will the acceptance of failure see the spirit of it twisted to: hard luck, what grant are you going to try and nobble next?
Failure when you and others/the collective learns is important. Selfish failure does not help anyone, it encourages skewing of data, hiding results and outright lying. Going back to companies merging, many that invest in companies including organisations like Enterprise Ireland and VCs have plenty of companies on their books that are probably already dead but to save face, are not publicly wound down.
I do wonder has this culture of fear of failure not only slowed or progress and experimenting but also created an even worse scenario where you can have worse failures because of the level of secrecy that happens. And what of all the things learned in them. A secret failure means others will have to trudge through the same stuff too. Can we have a Wikileaks for this stuff?
Adrian Weckler goes over some great biz apps for the iPad. My fav apps are Osfoora and oPlayer though.
Via Ben. A website that shows you how high the Thames is in a visual manner. Leave the site open and you can see the rise and falls. From the same guy that allowed you to print a book of all your tweets and other insanely clever ideas.
Ireland competes in another International sport -Football Tennis. Really.
I give a lot of presentations on online marketing/comms/social media each month. If you want your company as a case study to be used in my presentation, fill in this online form. Note, the form will be made public so everyone can avail of good case studies.
Remember that online retailer list I put together? Now standing at 82 listings of people selling goods online in Ireland, some have special discounts. As a retailer, you add yourself here. It goes live right away.
The first allowed for compromise and nuance in Ireland over issues of identity and sovereignty. It allowed for the idea that you could be British in Ireland, or both Irish and British, or just Irish. It allowed for the idea that history carries as much shadow as substance, and that nothing is simple in our heritage. It was negotiated with imagination and openness by Irish politicians and civil servants as well as British ones.
Queer Notions 2010 – Dec 7th to 11th. I like the idea of The Bobby Sands Memorial Race:
Bobby Sands was a long distance runner as a teenager. During his time in the infamous Maze prison in Belfast, Sands wrote articles and essays on endurance and running. His essay, ‘The Loneliness of a Long Distance Cripple’, is the inspiration for Welsh choreographer Eddie Ladd’s extraordinary show The Bobby Sands Memorial Race.
Set on a 12ft X 6ft running machine, Ladd’s stunning solo piece follows the sixty six days of the hunger strike and considers the long-distance goal of resistance.
The Pipe, the documentary about the Corrib Gas project, will be released at the Irish Film Institute with a gala screening + Q&A on Thursday December 2nd at 6pm
Roy Harper – When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease
An IGNITE Information Evening which will include talks on Wealth Creation and Idea Generation will take place on Wednesday, November 24th, 2010 at 6pm. To register for this free seminar email ignite@ucc.ie
Not my idea, so after some banter on twitter a website gets created that lets people know Is Mulley On a train? I think it’s genius. I would though.
I’m compiling a list of Irish Online Retailers to get Christmas gifts from this year. Are you one? Add yourself here. To see the list so far have a look here.
When first I heard you could talk to smoking doctors online, I thought it was something different to the Quit Smoking clinic….
An Post Mobile App lets users, track and trace that letter or parcel, find the nearest post office and calculate postage for everything from a postcard to a parcel all from their iPhone, iPad or iTouch.
Contemporary Music Centre’s new music::new Ireland salon series. The first Salon takes place in the Kevin Barry Room of the National Concert Hall, 6pm – 7pm, 10 November 2010.
The third series of Dragon’s Den has a closing date 28th of November for those that want to submit their idea. Ah g’wan.
Georgina Campbell’s Ireland Guide app has been updated. More content and even premium content!
Check out this massive waste of money. Grants given to iPhone app creation for the Arts. Clones of existing ideas. A funding system that already exists and a hologram about Irish coffee for only 180k.