Mistakes: A Painful and Effective Way to Supercharge Your Growth
“Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.”
My heart sunk to my stomach as I realized that I had grossly underestimated my need to prepare for this presentation. I was 23 years old and had travelled to Europe to deliver my first DB2 database technical bootcamp to a local user group. In reality, I was a DB2 user of 6 months on a mission to teach a room full of men who had used DB2 for decades, the new features of the product.
To be clear, I did prepare. I spent many hours pouring over the bootcamp material making sure that I understood it. But what I failed to realize, is that reading a set of slides to understand them is very different than reading the slides preparing to present them.
The presentation began routinely enough, with introductions and pleasantries. But as we moved through the material, I became increasingly aware that I had nothing to add to the content on the slides. Off to a stumbling start, I began reading verbatim, the words on the slides to the class. From their faces, I could tell this was not going well. My inner monologue questioned: “Why are you reading the slides for them when they can read them as well?”. I changed tact, stating “Well I don’t need to read this to you, I’ll give you a moment to read the material yourself”. This was definitely a much worse strategy. I stared nervously at the audience as they looked back at me with a mix of frustration and pity. I desperately wanted to run out of the room, but unfortunately I had 2 more hours of this public failure to get through.
The bootcamps were multiple days, which meant that even when the day was over, I had to come back and face these folks the next day and the day after that. I worked into the wee hours of the morning for the next few days, preparing to make each days presentation just a little better than the one before.
Flash forward a few decades and I now love giving presentations. While I’ve become a whole lot more comfortable with public speaking, I’ve never forgotten the harsh lessons of that day. When I prepare, I now ask myself “What is the message I’m trying to convey during every part of the presentation? What is the unique value that I bring to this material?”
I’m sure that I would have become a better public speaker over time without that first painful experience. But, the discomfort associated with the mistake taught me a number of lessons very quickly and in a way that I’ll never forget - supercharging my growth in this area.
My friend, Caitlin Hudon, and I believe strongly in normalizing mistakes as a means for growth. So much so, that we launched Data Mishaps Night four years ago. Data Mishaps Night is a free, virtual yearly event that we host for the data community. We feature a lineup of data mistake stories with a focus on the human aspect of data work and lessons learned the hard way. The event offers a fun, cathartic and supportive environment to learn from your fellow data partitioners.
Sign Up for Data Mishaps Night!
The event takes place this year on Thursday March 7th 2024 at 7pm CST. The agenda from 2023 can be seen here.
Visit datamishapsnight.com to register for the event as an attendee or apply to be a speaker. We hope to see you there!
