Fall Down 7 Times, Get Up 8

Garr Reynolds has been teaching people how to present better with his Presentation Zen blog and book. His latest book is, "The Naked Presenter: Delivering Powerful Presentations With or Without Slides."

This week, though, in the wake of Japan's earthquake/tsunami/nuclear crisis three-peat, he has veered away from his presentation focus to instead discuss what he has learned of the Japanese culture in living there for many years. And today's post has special resonance for those of us who wish to learn from mistakes better. It's called "Fall Down 7 Times, Get Up 8." Here's an excerpt:


Fall down seven times,
get up eight 七転び八起き
Japanese culture and ways of thinking can not be adequately addressed in a short space, but this Japanese proverb reflects an important and shared ideal: "Nana korobi ya oki" (literally: seven falls, eight getting up) means fall down seven times and get up eight. This speaks to the Japanese concept of resilience. No matter how many times you get knocked down, you get up again. Even if you should fall one thousand times, you just keep getting up and trying again. You can see this ethic reinforced in all facets of Japanese culture including education, business, sports, the martial arts the Zen arts, etc. It is especially important to remember the sentiment expressed in this proverb when times are dark. There are no quick fixes in life and anything of real worth will necessarily take much struggle and perseverance. Success does not have to be fast—what’s more important is that one simply does their absolute best and remains persistent.  

Never give up!
A concept related to the saying "Nana korobi ya oki" is the spirit of gambaru (頑張る). The concept of gambaru is deeply rooted in the Japanese culture and approach to life. The literal meaning of gambaru expresses the idea of sticking with a task with tenacity until it is completed—of making a persistent effort until success is achieved. The imperative form, “gambette,” is used very often in daily language to encourage others to “do your best” in work, to “fight on!” and “never give up!” during a sporting event or studying for an exam. You do not always have to win, but you must never give up. While others may encourage you to "gambatte kudasai!" — the real spirit of gambaru comes from within. The best kind of motivation is intrinsic motivation. For the benefit of oneself — and for the benefit of others as well — one must bear down and do their best. Even in good times, behaving uncooperatively or in a rude manner is deeply frowned upon. In a crisis, the idea of complaining or acting selfishly to the detriment of those around you is the absolute worst thing a person can do. There is no sense in complaining about how things are or crying over what might have been. These feelings may be natural to some degree, but they are not productive for yourself or for others.

A lot of our discussion of mistake learning is around self-awareness and lack of denial, of people taking accountability for their actions, diagnosing how they contributed to the outcome and what they could do differently. But this other facet is perhaps as important--the facet of not giving up, of being resilient and persevering in spite of setbacks and errors. Thanks, Garr, for reinforcing this important lesson.