Be The Change 180

The Illusion of Failure

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by

Glenn Lawrence
in

Need encouragement? Here is some perspective on perceived failure and the initial opinions and criticism of others…

Flash back to 1977. An emerging director had just finished filming a movie in which he had personally invested millions of his own money, risking both his credibility and future. The film involved a relatively new and innovative style of movie-making and was populated by a largely unknown cast. The entire filming process was met with criticism and skepticism from beginning to end. Three weeks before the film’s release, all of Hollywood was talking about the problems with the movie. When the film was screened for the Fox board of directors “π‘‘β„Žπ‘œπ‘ π‘’ π‘€β„Žπ‘œ β„Žπ‘Žπ‘‘ π‘›π‘œπ‘‘ π‘“π‘Žπ‘™π‘™π‘’π‘› π‘Žπ‘ π‘™π‘’π‘’π‘ β„Žπ‘Žπ‘‘ β„Žπ‘Žπ‘‘π‘’π‘‘” it. A trailer campaign running since Christmas was pulled because of the negative audience reactions. The π·π‘Žπ‘–π‘™π‘¦ π‘‰π‘Žπ‘Ÿπ‘–π‘’π‘‘π‘¦ predicted it would be a complete flop. When the director previewed the film to a group of close friends, they offered him “π‘π‘œπ‘›π‘‘π‘œπ‘™π‘’π‘›π‘π‘’π‘  π‘Ÿπ‘Žπ‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘Ÿ π‘‘β„Žπ‘Žπ‘› π‘π‘œπ‘›π‘”π‘Ÿπ‘Žπ‘‘π‘’π‘™π‘Žπ‘‘π‘–π‘œπ‘›π‘ .” Finally, the director himself stated, “𝐼 π‘“π‘–π‘”π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘‘, 𝑀𝑒𝑙𝑙, 𝑖𝑑’𝑠 𝑗𝑒𝑠𝑑 π‘Ž 𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑦 π‘šπ‘œπ‘£π‘–π‘’. 𝐼𝑑 π‘Žπ‘–π‘›’𝑑 π‘”π‘œπ‘–π‘›π‘” π‘‘π‘œ π‘€π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘˜.” In fact, he and his wife strategically planned a holiday getaway in Hawaii so they would be “unavailable” at the time of the release.

Anyone want to venture a guess as to the film? Want a hint? “π‘€π‘Žπ‘¦ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ πΉπ‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘π‘’ 𝑏𝑒 π‘€π‘–π‘‘β„Ž π‘¦π‘œπ‘’.”

The lessons? One, don’t let the opinions and criticisms of others deter you. They might just be wrong πŸ™ƒ Two, don’t give up in the face of adversity and challenges. Keep moving forward. Success sometimes initially comes to us wearing the temporary disguise of failure.

[NOTE: Source material is from Garry Jenkins’ book “Harrison Ford: Imperfect Hero.”]

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