Fail Forward

Yesterday I had lunch with some friends that I used to coach with, with the White Sox. The topic of conversation turned to why one pitcher who threw 95 miles an hour with great stuff could be a closer and another pitcher who threw the same with great stuff could not. The conclusion was interesting – the closers mentality was that he was not afraid to fail. If he gave up a game winning home run he analyzed what went wrong, processed it and forgot about it. The other dwelled on it. After lunch when I was reflecting on the conversation I could not help but think of Tom Peters, the management gurus, concept of failing forward. You don't succeed and progress if you don't take chances and try new things. To be a great athlete you have be willing to risk. You never make the shot you don’t take. It reminded of the end of the Patriots game the other night when Tom Brady threw a pass to Randy Moss that was dropped. What did he do? On the very next play he threw a touchdown pass to Randy Moss! I am convinced that it takes that gunfighter mentality, an inner strength to be the best.