Celebrate
Seeking perfection
I often see LinkedIn posts about striving for excellence. I get it. We should aim to be the best versions of ourselves. But to what extent should we pursue this lofty goal of being excellent? And when is this journey veering us toward the dangerous edge of looking for perfection?
I side with the view that imperfection is beautiful and, as the Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi emphasizes, is something we should celebrate more.
Eat
Food, our common ground
Do you know what else we should celebrate more? Food and science, and at the same time—this is what has been on my mind.
Science is hard to understand. The problem is that science, as communicated by scientists, can often seem like another language. But what if these discussions—between scientists and non-scientists—begin with food, our universal experience?
"Food is our common ground, a universal experience." Quote, attributed to James Beard
And, because I’m certain my scientist friends who follow this newsletter also like food, I bet they have a favorite recipe. If that's you, feel free to send it to me. I may be a willing guinea pig in this food and science conversation experiment.
Mistakes vs. failures
I begin this edition by sharing something that’s been on my mind.
First, a little bit more about mistakes. You might be saying, “You discussed mistakes in your last edition. That ChatGPT learning from its mistakes thing. How about something else?”
You are correct. So, I’ll try to be brief.
Let me start by saying that I made a mistake, or rather, I failed to elaborate on what the word “mistake” means.
Mistakes and failures are not the same thing.
Mistakes are like when Tower Records put its head down amid the disruptions taking place in the music industry. It failed to see what was happening after Napster launched in 1999. It could have learned from this failure to adapt. But it continued with its head in the sand in 2001 when iTunes launched (mistake).
This reminds me of that hole in the sidewalk Portia Nelson warned us about. We see the hole clearly, yet we fall in again and again.
The billion-dollar company took on 100 million dollars in debt to outlast the disruptions (another mistake). Eventually, it fell into a chasm when it filed for bankruptcy in 2004 (A side note: apparently, Tower Records is back).
When we learn from something that didn’t work out as we had planned or envisioned, that’s a failure. Failure is okay. It provides us with valuable information. We plan something out, and it doesn’t work. We now have the information to try something else that may bring the results we were seeking in the first place. We can move on, knowing fully that it's a mistake if we do the same thing again.
Snippets
- Parking road rage in U.S. society
- Secretive professionals out of the shadows, we couldn't be prouder
- Nature's best firefighters making a comeback
Spread the word
Share the link with a friend if you're enjoying the TEXTURE newsletter, and we'll keep it coming.