Fail Often.

The week before we went to the KidScreen Summit in NYC, I saw a blog post by brand and marketing guru Seth Godin about Tim Burton’s many “failed” attempts before AND in between his green lit projects.

While in NYC, we stayed 1 block away from MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art) where a temporary Tim Burton Exhibit was on display featuring art from his high-school days thru the present. It was amazing to see how many different mediums Tim Burton worked in. There were illustrations, mobiles, sculptures, live action films, animated films, experimental art, and more.

One notable part of the exhibit was a huge wall that had all of his movie concepts listed. Next to each was it’s year of release OR a phrase like “Never Produced.” MOST of his projects had that term next to them. “Never Produced.”

We should not feel like we have failed when we have that stamp on one of our projects or ideas. “Never Produced” now means to me “Never Giving Up” and “Learning and Preparing for the Next Step.”

I could point to many “failures” at Timbuktoons that prepared us for something bigger. Our goal should be “to attempt great things”, not ,”to have 100% success”. A real adventure is not complete with out some scratches and bruises along the way. No story is compelling without the scene where hope is almost lost. Never give up, even if you “fail often!”