Why You Should Embrace Mistakes

The fear of mistakes stifles creativity and curiosity. It holds us back from trying new things. When we’re young, we dive into new experiences without a second thought: a school friend has a trampolining party—wow, I’ve never done that before! Or a uni society invites us to try hula hooping—why not? That sounds fun! But when we get into solid adulthood we stop trying things, held back by worries about imperfection. 

We begin to dwell on moments when our ideas didn’t pan out. Have you ever suggested something in a work meeting, only for it to fall flat? It’s easy to start second-guessing yourself the next time you have an idea. Or maybe you shared a new suggestion with friends, but it didn’t take off as you hoped. These experiences can chip away at our confidence, making us more cautious and less willing to explore, share, or try new things.

Playfulness allows creativity to thrive. To be playful means being in the moment, not worrying about the outcome, and enjoying the process. It’s about embracing mistakes and using them as stepping stones for exploration. It’s just like John Cleese said: “If you are going to be creative, you have to be in a state of play. And you can't play if you're being careful. If you're trying not to make mistakes, it destroys creativity completely!”

Did you know that X-rays, penicillin, and microwaves were all discovered by mistake? These groundbreaking inventions are proof that creativity and progress often come from the unexpected. Mistakes are not setbacks; they’re opportunities for discovery.

As someone who gets hung up on things not going to plan, I know how difficult it can be to embrace mistakes. For me, training in clowning and improv helped me with this immensely. It taught me to speak up in meetings, suggest ideas, and move on when they didn’t land (spoiler: not every idea will be a winner! And actually sometimes it’s good to suggest terrible ideas in a creative process, but that’s another post for another time). That’s why I designed the Making Happy Mistakes workshop—as a way I can give this learning to other.

The fear of failure holds us back because we care too much about what people will think if they see us fail. But we shouldn’t. We should embrace our mistakes, learn from them, and celebrate having the courage to try.

In the workshop, we play exercises and games in a supportive environment which are all designed to make us fail. We celebrate those failures. When do you ever have permission to fail? It’s rewarding to see people open up during the session. By the end, everyone is confidently playing games they know they’ll mess up, and it’s so freeing! Embracing mistakes makes you more creative, resilient, and ultimately happier.