Bas Ruyssenaars recently gave a workshop to law graduates from Leiden University. The program consisted of a short lecture on the aim of The Institute of Brilliant Failures to encourage students to reflect on failures within their own research.. The PhD students were then instructed to work out one learning experience in groups and present it to the other groups.
Important lessons learned during the pitch part, was:
Admit if you don't know something, whether this is up to your supervisor or your fellow students'
‘Take the directions and suggestions of your supervisor with you, but also hold on to what you think is right.”
‘Knock on your supervisor in good time if you get stuck’
"Don't drown in an abundance of information that you take in as you delve into your subject"
"Don't get too caught up in rejection"
Map the factors that can influence your results
"Learn to let go of things that you cannot solve at the moment"
The workshop ends with a question from one of the participants about the definition of success as the opposite of failure. This sparked a discussion about whether there is an unambiguous definition of success at all. It was concluded that successes are not only the desired end stages, but can also consist of smaller intermediate steps. In short, something is a success if you label it as a success yourself.