You have to get it wrong to get it right

One of my favorite mottos – You have to get it wrong to get it right. Dont get me wrong, I do not think the world is black and white or that there really is a hard right and wrong with anything in terms of rules. But I do believe our gut can tell us when something is wrong (and not working) and when it is right (it just feels good).

And its a beautiful thing when our intuition (or friends/customers/clients) lets us know when something is wrong- we have the opportunity to find that thing we would have never discovered in round one.

I use this thought a lot when it comes to design– I have to find the wrong fonts to find the right one; the wrong layout to discover the perfect one. “Get it wrong” does not mean failure- it’s part of the growing, learning, and discovering process. That “right” thing would not have been discovered if I did not go down that path. Sure, it can be frustrating to have a product label ready for print, only to have the client still have changes to the logo. In the end- the packaging ended up that much more successful because of this hold up and change.

Thomas Edison as he was developing a reliable light bulb, tested 6,000 different filaments before he found the right one to make it work. He knew what he was looking for- he just had to find it by getting a few wrong:)

Say you have an idea, and you spend years trying to get the perfect final product before releasing it to the world. What if there is tons or criticism or no response at all?  Focus on getting something out there to a few you trust and get feedback as soon as possible to keep testing and changing and making it better. One of my favorite modern philosophers and writers, Ryan Holiday says “If I’m going to fail, I want to fail fast and move on.”

Embrace what is not working- its a fabulous clue to get you where you need to go.