This week Mr.Patrician shared an excerpt of the book that he is currently reading, with our class. Creativity Inc., written by Ed Catmull, and Amy Wallace is centered around the concept of 'fearless innovation' and uses the authors experience working with Pixar Studios as a source for exemplary material. The few pages of the book that we were able to read suggested in many different ways that "The process of developing a [project] is one of discovery".
After annotating the excerpt provided with us, we discussed our favourite lines and takeaways - Most of which were extremely representative of the learning style in Propel. One of the lines that stood out to me in particular came from a paragraph discussing the creative process of screenwriting, and how working for a company such as Pixar tends to place you under a microscope "Every unsuccessful attempt to crack the story only heightened the pressure.".
We have all been offered an extremely rare opportunity in this program. Teenagers don't usually have the chance to embrace their passions, create innovative projects, and take charge of their own education. We are all extremely grateful for the opportunity, and obviously don't want to let anyone down in the process. We don't want to fail in front of our teachers who have spent so much of their time with us, or the Propel creative team that has placed so much of their hope in our success, or even our parents who have trusted our ability to be independent. This program places us under a microscope, and for that reason I was truly able to relate to this particular line.
Very often the students in this program will find themselves overcome with the fear of failing, and for that reason, we must learn how to separate lazy failure from constructive failure. Lazy failure is caused by neglect and laziness, where as constructive failure is caused by trial and error. Constructive failure still results in learning and substance, and is therefore still valuable. Instead of fearing failure, we should all learn to embrace it for what it truly offers, an opportunity to learn.