QuoteProject
If you're not failing 90% of the time, then you're probably not working on sufficiently challenging problems.
Alan Kay
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Failure is a sign of tackling difficult challenges.

This quote emphasizes that encountering failure frequently is indicative of attempting complex and worthwhile problems. It suggests that if you are not facing challenges that push your limits, you may not be pursuing growth or significant achievements.

Themes

FailureChallengeGrowthMotivationPersistence

In practice

Example use cases

During a team meeting, I can share this quote to encourage team members to take risks in their projects.

More from Alan Kay

The Internet was done so well that most people think of it as a natural resource like the Pacific Ocean, rather than something that was man-made. When was the last time a technology with a scale like that was so error-free? The Web, in comparison, is a joke. The Web was done by amateurs.
Alan KayRead
Perspective is worth 80 IQ points.
Alan KayRead
The greatest single programming language ever designed
Alan KayRead
By the time I got to school, I had already read a couple hundred books. I knew in the first grade that they were lying to me because I had already been exposed to other points of view. School is basically about one point of view -- the one the teacher has or the textbooks have. They don't like the idea of having different points of view, so it was a battle. Of course I would pipe up with my five-year-old voice.
Alan KayRead
Simple things should be simple and complex things should be possible.
Alan KayRead
Scratch the surface in a typical boardroom and we're all just cavemen with briefcases, hungry for a wise person to tell us stories.
Alan KayRead

Similar quotes

I used to dream about taking the ball 'round the keeper, stopping it on the line, and then getting on my hands and knees and heading it into the net. When I scored against Benfica in the 1968 European Cup final, I nearly did it. I left the keeper for dead, but then I chickened out.
George BestRead
Every person is endowed with God-given abilities, and we must cultivate every ounce of talent we have in order to maintain our pinnacle position in the world.
Benjamin CarsonRead
Welcome those big, sticky, complicated problems. In them are your most powerful opportunities.
Ralph MarstonRead
If you write one story, it may be bad; if you write a hundred, you have the odds in your favor.
Edgar Rice BurroughsRead
We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers.
Woodrow WilsonRead
Watch the film, not the stopwatch.
Chuck NollRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.