Isabel Evans stopped drawing and painting after being told she was not very good at it, which led to a loss of confidence in her creative and professional abilities. However, she realized that attempting creative activities is important for cognitive and emotional development, and that making mistakes and learning from failures allows for growth. By reengaging with failure through art and with support from others, Isabel was able to regain confidence in her abilities and reboot her career. The document discusses different perspectives on failure and the importance of learning from mistakes.

1. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Failing and recovering
Isabel Evans fbcs citp
ie@isabelevans.uk
www.isabelevans.uk

2. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Abstract
• Do you ever feel you have lost confidence in your own abilities? Why does
this happen? Isabel Evans spends a lot of time painting. Someone once
commented, “Why are you doing this, when you are not very good at it?”
And gradually she stopped drawing and painting, after being intimidated
by a conventional vision of what good art should look like. At the same
time, she experienced a parallel loss of confidence in her professional
abilities. Attempting creative pursuits like drawing and painting is essential
to cognitive, emotional, creative abilities and she began to understand the
correlation between her creative activities and her confidence. Making
errors, being wrong, failing – that is a generous gift we receive when we
practice outside our skill level. By staying in a comfort zone and repeating
successes, we stagnate. As Isabel started to create again she thought “I
don’t feel good at it, I do feel good doing it” The difference was that she
was learning, having ideas and the act of re-engaging with failure,
together with the comradeship of friends and colleagues, including at
Women Who Test, Isabel has regained her confidence in her professional
abilities, and been able to reboot her career and joy. Join Isabel to share a
journey from self-perceived failure, to recovery and renewed learning.

3. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Where to start?

4. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
What is success?
What is failure?
What is reality?

5. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Here are some life milestones
Alexander Calder

6. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
FAILURE… MY FINDINGS…

7. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Failure is the best option when…
It is better not to succeed at this task

8. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Failure is a matter of opinion…
This is someone else’s definition of failure
“Why are you doing this, when you are
not very good at it?”

9. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Failure is not an option sometimes…
Yet it still happens…
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC
BY-SA-NC
“my job is to imagine
dreadful things that
haven’t happened yet,
and then try and make
them happen”

10. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Failure is the only possibility…
It is impossible to succeed
De Sautoy seeks the
limits of knowledge
Marcus de Sautoy “What
we cannot know" is online
at
https://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=xbo3NZdReEghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_du_Sautoy

11. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Failure is in our minds…
Self
confidence
Expertise
http://bit.ly/1Yl4znqhttps://vimeo.com/176695137
Imposter Phenomenon

12. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Failure is a continuous part of self-
development
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_are_known_knowns
• humbling• analysing
• learning• refreshing
Known
knowns
Known
unknowns
Unknown
unknowns
Unknown
knowns

13. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Failure is how you learn
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC

14. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Failure is inevitable (at first…)
I don’t (yet) know how to succeed –
the joy is in trying, at all
Decide PhD Apply for PhD course Start course Start research design
Take quantitative
methods module
Change research
design
Start literature
review
Take qualitative
methods module
Change research
design…
Make plan
Continue literature
review
Change my plan…
Started…gathering
data to help
research design
Interviews,
workshops and
surveys tools
vendors
Literature review Report back Redesign research… Prep for MSc…
Redesign research…Etc…

15. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Failure at a weak point can be a benefit
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA

16. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA
Weak links can mean stronger ties

17. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Criticism is not the same as failure
“Do not seek praise, seek criticism” Mads Soegaard
“Start by giving praise” Dot Graham
“Editors do not reject people; they reject pieces of paper with
writing on them” Jerry Weinberg
“someone will always give you a reason not to pursue
your dreams if you ask them. So don’t ask” Tania Katan

18. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
My brain was trying to tell me…
I was talking about it…
How can we thrive?
• It is hard sometimes…
– to be in a team, to lead or to follow
– to manage people and projects
• Other people are hard to understand
– they seem to behave and think differently to us
• Sometimes
– we feel treated badly
– people get in our space and interfere
– we feel rejected by others
– we feel used
– and helpless
what can we do about it?
Don’t be beguiled by “sunk costs”…
Some parasites are quite attractive
– but still make hard work for their
team…

19. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Trying & failing versus not trying & not failing…
STAREast 2016
Do something new; even
if you know you’ll hate it
(provided it is safe…)
(if you want to…)

20. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Story telling
Stand up comedy
Allowing myself to
be photo’d…
And videoed…
And interviewed…
Learning trust…

21. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Have a coping strategy…
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-ND
If you can’t
cope, do it in
this order…

22. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Breathe…
• My yoga (& meditation) teacher
• She says to me:
– “stop trying so hard”
– “yoga is not a competition”
– “do what you can do”
• She says
– “remember to breathe”

23. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Repair…

24. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Find your purpose…
Be Happy - Do Good
Leave the world a better place
than I found it

25. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Take advice from strangers…
http://labyrinths.ca/

26. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Take advice from strangers…
http://labyrinths.ca/
“The difference between a maze
– where you get lost and stuck –
and a labyrinth with a single path
is just one wall, just one decision.
You can change it.”

27. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Where to end?
With a new beginning

28. Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Failing and recovering
Isabel Evans fbcs citp
ie@isabelevans.uk
www.isabelevans.uk