What have you learned from failure?

Rolf Smith asked that question. Rolf is the director of the School for Innovators He has a habit of asking questions that turn your thinking on end. Mistakes are one thing. Errors in the learning process. That seems temporary, transitory to me. I have a friendly relationship with error most of the time -- unless the knower side of my personality rears its ugly head.

But FAILURE? That seems bigger, more permanent. Well, I guess you could talk about materials failure. If a wheel on my bicycle collapsed, that would be a materials failure. I can see that could be painful, but not the same as a personal failure.

What have I learned from failure? Drat you, Rolf, made me think...