There are certain phrases that seem to pop up in schools a lot. On posters and t-shirts and bulletin boards. One of those is “Failure is not an option”⁣ ⁣ I’ve been thinking about this one a lot, and let me just say — I think it’s just about the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. I mean don’t get me wrong, I’m sure I’ve posted this in my classroom in the past. And, like everything, it’s all in your perspective and interpretation. But, seriously, when is failure actually not an option? And why is that a bad thing?⁣ ⁣ Every day I see kids that are so afraid of failure they refuse to take risks. They’d rather do nothing than something that won’t be perfect. If there’s a chance of failure they shut down. And adults aren’t immune. In fact, we can be worse. But how do we learn if we don’t take any risks? If we don’t make mistakes? Fail. Over and over. ⁣ ⁣ Because the learning is in the getting back up. Risk is required. Failure is guaranteed. How else will we learn resilience? Perseverance? And...