"Your Failures Interest Me Far More Than Your Success"

I think David Kelly from Ideo said that. It takes lots of real world experience to really understand what he meant. Failures are responsible for far more innovation than successes have been. Failures also cause people and businesses to adapt or fail.

In these regards failures are much more interesting than success stories. We've heard stories of people "failing upward" - especially in science and other businesses where trail and error counts more than revenue targets.

An example of a failure that is far more interesting as a failure than a success could be the Leaning Tower of Pisa - it was obviously intended to stand vertically (to serve as a bell tower,) but began leaning soon after construction started in August of 1173. Who would really care about it if it didn't lean?

The lesson: We all fail. It's up to us to use those events to grow or wither. It often seems we live in a society that actually enjoys seeing people fail. When this happens to you, keep in mind that what is happening to you is only a state of "where you are" in life and not "who you are" as a person. I know.