“I’ve Fallen and I Can’t Get Up”: Laughing at Failure
Remember that commercial, sometime in the 80s, I think. It’s been spoofed many times since, more than it deserves to be. I mean the acting isn’t Oscar material, but it isn’t bad enough to warrant the kind of derision it got over the years. So what’s going on here?
For that matter, what’s so funny about someone slipping on a banana peel? Mainly the fact that it’s not us doing it. Laughing expresses our gladness that we’re not in their boots, and also maybe is a bit of an “exorcism” of something we don’t want for ourselves. Laugh and it won’t seem like a big deal.
Now unless your body is vulnerable (age, injuries), slipping on a peel doesn’t cause much harm. But being elderly, alone, and unable to get up, now that’s frightening when you think of it.
And that’s the point: laughter prevents us from thinking about it. It distances us from the fear or being alone and vulnerable. Of lying there in pain, not knowing how to get help.
Why am I talking about this here? Because it reminds me of how we fear failure.
We fear it and either discount its possibility too much by refusing to consider how to minimize its likelihood or impact, or we give too much energy to trying to prevent it even if it’s a remote possibility.
And for many of us, it’s particularly hard to bounce back after setbacks, personal or professional. It’s a skill I was never taught in business school; I think because of the usual mindset, you know the one that says: “Failing is for losers and don’t think about being a loser or you’ll become one.” Yet it’s a skill we really need to learn. We are going to fail many times in our lifetimes. That’s for sure, unless we do nothing, risk anything. And that’s the biggest failure of all.
So how do you bounce back when you feel like a failure? That topic was so interesting to me I chose it as my contribution to a book I co-authored with other coaches. Here’s the link if you want to look into it: http://www.topcoachesshare.com/volume3/HeleneDesruisseaux
Nothing is as Tiring as Pointless Work
My most draining days have been when they were full of long, hard work of the kind that I dislike doing, and either:
- I didn’t see the point of it all
- Or I didn’t see when it would end.
It seems like nothing is as tiring as pointlessness. We humans are problem solving machines. We need context. We function better when we see a cause and effect, a beginning and an end. After all, we think in stories and stories have a plot, some logic to them.
So why wouldn’t we understand why we do the work we do?
- Because our environment is too full of confusing and ever changing circumstances,
- Because the decision makers aren’t sharing the information,
- Or because we are too busy to remember the reasons why.
In the first case, we have to learn to navigate through chaos better (and that’s quite a skill). In the second case, we can ask; most people would respond well to constructive questions. If they don’t, it’s a clue we might want to work elsewhere.
The third case requires us to take time to identify or remember our purpose. What’s the real goal of this project/job/unit/company again?
That applies to our overall business or work as well. Knowing why we do what we do is probably the most essential requirement of a good life. And making a living isn’t a good enough reason.
How to Pace Ourselves at Work
In my last post, I talked about how studies conclusively show that we perform much better if we take periodic breaks; not only do we take less time to complete our work, but we make less mistakes.
Now most people including me find it hard to remember to do that in the heat of deadlines, when all we can think of is to hurry and push harder to fulfill our promise. So it’s really important to ingrain good “break” behaviors, turning them into habits that we do without thinking.
And if we are the boss, we need to come to terms with what we consider to be productive breaks, and what is goofing off.
For example, it is recommended that we take a 10 minute walkabout every 90 minutes. It is important that we move around during that break, because thinking uses up a lot of oxygen, which we need to replenish in our cells. Examples of “productive” walkabouts are:
- Visiting other staff to chat about how things are doing
- Walking to the water cooler and drinking water while stretching and bonding with co workers (as long as the talk is not destructive to individual or group morale)
- Walking around the block clearing our mind to leave room for creative problem solving ideas
- If we work in a home office, getting up to drink water, walking the dog, petting the cat, or cleaning something (maintaining strict time boundaries to prevent it from turning into a way of procrastinating)
Another recommendation is to take a minute break for every 30 minutes of concentrated work. That can be a perfect opportunity to observe our thoughts and feelings while deep breathing and doing a quick stretch.
It sounds like no big deal, but it makes a big difference to both our performance and our energy levels. The quick energy techniques that I teach are based on our physiology, and people report that they make a measurable difference in how they feel about their day; not only in what they accomplished but also in how they feel physically and emotionally.
Why Hard Work Doesn’t Necessarily Pay Off
You are facing a major deadline. The best way to perform at your best is to:
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Buckle down and focus on the job until it’s done.
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Make sure you keep up with the social chats around the water cooler.
Studies have shown that by far, the best alternative is…the second one. Surprised? Most people are. But it makes sense, when you look at how our bodies and brains are designed.
We work best when we alternate between periods of activity and periods of rest. Athletes know this. They know that training non stop will backfire on their performance. Yet somehow, we think that we are built differently for our “thinking” activities than our physical ones.
One of the studies’ findings was that we cause more mistakes and wasted time by working for long and continuous time periods. When we work for longer than 30 minutes on a task, it takes us 5 times longer to solve the problem.
So by taking well-timed breaks, we not only improve the quality of our work, we end up saving time and feeling less frenzied. What do we mean by well-timed? If possible, a 10 minute walkabout every 90 minutes or so, and a minute pause for every 30 minutes of concentrated work.
I’m not suggesting promoting employees who goof around. What I am saying is that what contributes to productivity isn’t the time spent on work, but the energy invested it in. And human beings have more and better quality energy when they take the right kinds of breaks.
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