Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 35 seconds
TODAY’S IDEA: Commitment: Failure vs. Fallure
— From The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington; and “Leadership Lessons of a Rock Climber,” post on Fast Company by Jim Collins on December 1, 2003.
One of the ways to guarantee that we will accomplish a goal—any goal—is by making a commitment. Easier said than done.
Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington, authors of The 12 Week Year say, “The first key to effective commitment is a strong desire.” So true. However, life happens, and sometimes the initial desire may wear off when faced with the actual hard work of making the goal happen.
“Because commitments will require you to sacrifice, in addition to learning to say no, you will need to train yourself to think about and connect with the longer-term benefits versus the short-term inconvenience and discomfort.”
In other words, delayed gratification is the mindset to adopt.
Further, the authors advise, “With commitments, and anything you are serious about for that matter, don’t give yourself a psychological out.” And they point to a great article that Jim Collins (renowned author of books such as Good to Great and Built to Last) wrote for Fast Company called “Leadership Lessons of a Rock Climber,” where he talks about failure vs. “fallure” a new term he coined.
Here’s an excerpt of the article as it appears in the book:
Failure and fallure. The difference is subtle, but it is all the difference in the world. In fallure, you still do not get up the route, but you never let go. In fallure you fall; in failure you let go. Going to fallure means full commitment to go up–even if the odds of success are less than 20%, 10%, or even 5%. You leave nothing in reserve, no mental or physical resource untapped. In fallure, you never give yourself a psychological out: “Well, I didn’t really give it everything. … I might have made it with my best effort.” In fallure, you always give your full best–despite the fear, pain, lactic acid, and uncertainty. To the outside observer, failure and fallure look similar (you fly through the air in both cases), but the inner experience of fallure is totally different from that of failure.
You’ll only find your true limit when you go to fallure, not failure.
Moran and Lennington then conclude, “Commitments by definition demand you ‘go to fallure, not failure.’ Set it in your mind right now that the process is more important than the result. You don’t control the result; what you control are your actions.”
In thinking about the New Year, what are you committing to? Let me know in the comments here.
ACTION
TODAY: Take some time to think about the commitments that you will undertake next year. Are you willing to go to fallure and then start “climbing” again if need be?
FUTURE: As you are working towards your goals, remember failure vs. fallure. Sometimes that may be the push you need to get through that one uncomfortable action that you need to take.
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