Giving Thanks for Failure

Well, we blinked, another year passed, and Thanksgiving is upon us once again. As I do every year, I have been reflecting recently on where Spring Insight is, how it got there, and how many people I have to thank for that growth. This year, it strikes me in particular how much failure has played an integral (and positive!) role in what my baby has become.

Failing my way into a great team – I love my team. I know I say this every year, but I have never meant it more. I really love my team. You know what? My two most recent additions to the team are the results of my failures. My copywriter, Sam, joined us after I failed to heed my own qualms on hiring and ended up hiring the wrong person. My implementation marketer, Kate, joined us after I failed to hire just one person (as was my plan) when hiring a copywriter.

Failing my way into great clients – Midway through the year this year, I lost one of our biggest clients. There are all sorts of reasons why, but failure plays a role. That loss stung, but it gave us great insight into what we could do better, what we wanted to do, and who we wanted to work with. That failure has given me a renewed focus, and the direct result has been new clients that are a much better fit.

Failing my way into doing better work – I like to think that we at Spring Insight do great work, and we do! But not 100% of the time. This year has been one marked by some failures as well. Failure has provided us with some great opportunities to learn, course-correct, and get better.

With all of that said, I really hope that you don’t fail to have a happy Thanksgiving. I look forward to another year of failing, learning, and hopefully getting to know you better.

-Erika