SPORTS March 24, 2008 Issue

THE UPSIDE OF FAILURE

MARK SWINNEY

"I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot ... and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that's why I succeed."—Michael Jordan

THOSE INSIGHTFUL WORDS were spoken by an amazing and highly successful basketball player. That last comment is especially powerful. Michael Jordan learns and grows—big time—from every experience he has, good or bad.

He appears to be reassuring the rest of us that a good athlete doesn't give up after a missed shot, mistake, dropped ball, or flubbed pass, because each failure brings into clear focus the correct model for success. When you can grow from every single experience, there really aren't any failures.

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