Failure-Lab is launching in Grand Rapids with it's first public event at the end of May. I got an early peek into this new start-up a few months back and felt an immediate connection with their vision. They hope to shift our city away from risk aversion towards a culture that is ready to embrace the possibility of a failure in the hope of new growth and innovation.

We are living in times where it is becoming increasingly obvious that we cannot just keep doing things the way we have always done them because if we are honest, a lot of what we are doing just isn't working any more. These are times to not just imagine a different future, these are times to gather friends, make plans and take those first shaky steps towards a possible better way. Failure-Lab is coming to help us cultivate a new way of framing the word "failure" and begin to see our failures as just the crooked path of true creativity. Below is a statement lifted from their web page;

'A group of West Michigan professionals believe that while success is a statement, failure is a conversation. Their mission to create a safe space to allow the vulnerability to explore mistakes and how we can learn from them will come to fruition May 23 at the first ever Failure-Lab. Hosted in the historic Wealthy Street Theatre (1130 Wealthy St. SE), Failure Lab will present six, diverse storytellers, five musical guests, and one dancer in a fluid 1.5 hour format devoted to screwing up, and how we can learn from it.

A one-minute interval between speakers will allow for the audience to reflect, storytellers will not be sharing lessons, it’s up to you. An after party immediately following the performance will offer a chance to mingle and share.

The “storytellers” represent a variety of arenas and look forward to sharing their worst. Humbling, personal, touching, and at times humorous, Failure-Lab hopes to cultivate a community that can share their struggles, challenge their perspectives, and move forward confidently from mistakes."