Yet, those big leaps, slides, and handstands don’t happen overnight. There are a lot of wobbles, stumbles, and falls. As a parent, I can say that I DID record those “oopsies,” but shamefully deleted most of them because they didn’t show “the big thing that happened.” The success. If we want to tell the story about how the “big thing that happened” happened, we should also honor the missteps along the way. If our kids can laugh, brush themselves off, and get back to doing what they were trying to do after a setback, we should value and appreciate those struggles as much as they do.

Ok. So I’ve made it two paragraphs without saying the word. The “f” word. Failure. Every fall, every “so close” moment is not just a failure but also an opportunity to say, “You almost got it!” I read an article from a journal of the Association for Psychological Science written by Kyla Haimovitz and Carol Dweck, that stated caregivers and mentors “can endorse a growth mindset, but they might not pass it on to their children unless they have a positive and constructive reaction to their children’s struggles.” Simply put, we have to walk the walk when it comes to accepting failure and learning from it. We need to really embrace failure in order to effectively create a growth mindset in our children. It’s science!

Charles C. Gates Jr., Graland alumnus from the class of ’34, was a pioneer of innovation who believed in the can-do spirit of children. He was fond of saying, “Throw your hat across the creek and find a way to cross it,” as a way to motivate people to keep moving forward despite the challenge presented. He founded the Gates Innovation and Invention Program 25 years ago with the belief that children were great inventors because they did not see roadblocks in the same way adults do. He believed that not only would students push past failure in order to find success, but he believed that failure was, in fact, paramount to success. He believed, as we do, that the spirit of innovation is driven by a willingness to embrace failure. This program and its spirit not only reverberates in the Gates Lab but in the teachings of educators all over campus. 

Failure, in fact, leads to thriving. In my opinion and experience, when I see students thrive in the lab, that means that they have been presented with a problem or difficult situation and have pushed through that roadblock in a way that is genuine and authentic to who they are. Grit and perseverance can’t be engineered - you have to have moments that challenge you in order to truly grow. Our students know when they see genuine roadblocks and feel a sense of pride and accomplishment when they overcome the obstacle, creating a core memory of resilience that follows them throughout their entire lives. 

So for every product pitch meeting that occurs in the Gates Lab where inventors are told to rethink an idea (or go down a different path altogether), there is a bounce back powered by resilience, where even greater ideas are created, like a biodegradable fish hook or magnetic zippers. By identifying areas where a product could be improved or by guiding our inventors through setbacks and failures, our coaches honor the legacy left by Charles C. Gates Jr.  

We should celebrate all the missteps and failures on the playground, the Gates Lab, and in every classroom, because they are a necessary part of creating long-term resilience. You can see the results of building from failure in the smiles, laughter, and high-fives abundant throughout the Gates Expo. 

Oh, and don’t delete the trips and falls from your phone because they make the story of success even better.