Joe Bunting

How To Be A Prophet: Succeed

This is Part II to yesterday, June 16’s post.

Only to succeed, you need to fail. 

Again, Seth says, “And just about any time you ask a customer to acknowledge that they were wrong, you will fail.”

Because anytime you set up a hierarchy, anytime you set yourself above people, you create the potential for a power struggle.  Sometimes people bend to power willingly, doctors for instance.  Other times, they put up resistance, like the woman who complained to TSA.  Neither is what you want for real change.

If you want people to admit they are wrong, and if it is necessary for them to do so for their own sake, then you have to fail too.

My first few weeks at my job I made some stupid mistakes. I answered the phone wrong.  I made copies wrong (you didn’t know it was possible, did you).  One time, I messed up bad enough to have to have a conversation with two of my bosses. 

One said, “Joe, when I was you’re age, I made every mistake in the book.  Twice.  I was such a clutz.  It’s no big deal.  We’re just trying to help you be a better part of the team.”

Now, this didn’t fix everything.  I wasn’t too happy to be brought in front of the grand jury, but what he did well was to relate with me.  What he said meant, “You can fail, I can fail, I do it all the time, but it’s not about that.  It’s not about you, it’s not about me, it’s about the team.” 

Community is a powerful thing, but community dies in power struggles.  To answer the question I asked Seth yesterday, to get people to change, fail.  When you fail together, community happens.  When you create power structures to hide failure, community disolves. 

Related posts:

How To Be a Prophet: Fail




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