Henry Ford – Failure
“Failure is an opportunity to begin again more intelligently.”
Henry Ford
Big Idea
Mark Twain famously quipped that death and taxes are the only things certain in life. We can probably add failure to that short list. Of all themes, failure is one to which students can relate most. There’s failure at home, at school and in the workplace. It is a constant. Students are taught to develop a growth mindset and learn from failure.
Claim
Students view failure negatively, probably because when they fail it means they didn’t accomplish something. Ford thinks of failure as an opportunity to start again with new wisdom. We become smarter when we fail.
Counterclaim
Failure may teach us great things, but constant failure is a sign that we need to stop and change course. If something isn’t working, try something else. There’s wisdom in that approach too.
Essential
Question
How do we know when failure should convince us to move on?
Student Video
“To Build a Fire” – Failure
The short story “To Build a Fire” by Jack London is about how the main character’s lack of imagination leads to a tragic failure in the Yukon wilderness in the middle of a brutal win ...
Constitutional Amendments – Failure
The amendments to the Constitution offer a great opportunity to show students how ideas evolve. I would ask students to unpack and rephrase some of the most important amendments, such as Amendment 13 ...
