From a very young age, we are taught to fear failure. We might watch the disappointment in our parents’ faces when bringing home a low grade on a test in elementary school; experience the scorn of our peers when missing a shot in a big game during high school; and feel a dire sense of dread when our first boss tells us  we did wrong. As a result, we learn to hide our failures in hopes that the world will never know we messed up.

But loss and failure –those moments we “fuckup” – teach us so much more than success ever does. As the late Pat Conroy said in his book My Losing Season “Loss is a fiercer, more uncompromising teacher, coldhearted, but clear-eyed in its understand that life is more dilemma than game, and more trial than free pass. . . . Though I learned some things from the games we won that year, I learned much, much more from loss.

This episode includes a great conversation with the founders of FuckUp Nights/Atlanta: Jay Cranman and Tim Adkins. These accomplished professionals’ careers span the for profit, nonprofit, and social good sectors, with a very unique story to share. We talk about their efforts to help people move failure from the shadows and move past it.  ​

To find out about the next FuckUp Night in Atlanta visit www.funatl.org.  If you are outside of Atlanta and want to find a  FuckUp Night near you, go to www.fuckupnights.com.

In this featured conversation, we discussed:

• The origin of FuckUp Nights
• Why they brought it to Atlanta
• The importance of an environment supportive of failure
• Why high-profile speakers choose to publicly share their mistakes and the benefit they get from it
• Future FuckUp Nights planned for Atlanta

To find out about the next FuckUp Night in Atlanta visit www.funatl.org.  If you are outside of Atlanta and want to find a  FuckUp Night near you, go to www.fuckupnights.com.