Fail4Lib X
Everyone experiences failure in their professional lives, but no one likes to talk about it. When we see failure approaching, we distance ourselves, avert our eyes, or – if we’re in its path – brace for the worst. But failure has intrinsic value and is an essential step on the path to professional and organizational success. And since it’s inevitable, we ought to learn how to look back on our failures to derive value from them, and how to look ahead so that our past failures can inform our future successes.
Fail4Lib is the perennial Code4Lib preconference dedicated to discussing and coming to terms with the failures that we all encounter in our professional lives. It is a safe space for us to explore failure, to talk about our own experiences with failure, and to encourage enlightened risk taking. The goal of Fail4Lib is for participants – and their organizations – to get better at failing gracefully, so that when we do fail, we do so in a way that moves us forward. And in a year with plenty of failure to reflect on, the ability to make the most of failure is a valuable asset. First-timers and Fail4Lib veterans are welcome!
This year, Fail4Lib celebrates ten years of celebrating failure. I hope you’ll join us.
Learning Objectives: Participants will leave this session more comfortable with failing and more comfortable with discussing failure openly. Participants will learn strategies for making failure more productive and valuable, and for making their organizations more willing to embrace failure as a learning opportunity.
