“More balls than most.”

Those are the big, bold, embossed words on the black box Tom Hicks received from his grandmother.

This was several years ago, when he was having some challenges in his life. Inside the box was a 3 ball juggling kit, which included a pamphlet titled, “A Short Course in Life Enhancement.”

Okay. You had me at balls. Now I’m really curious. How in the world does juggling enhance one’s life?

Quite substantially, it turns out. Because this kit helped Tom completely reframe failure in his life. Instead of feeling like the end of something, jugging helped him see how failure is usually just the beginning.

You can drop those balls a million times and it’s okay. Low stakes failures like this are exactly how we train our brain to get used to it, welcome it even.

Next thing you know, you’re (well, Tom is) delivering workshops around the country helping folks create a better relationship with messing up. You’re saying “how fascinating” with arms raised high when you blow a big deal. Inviting curiosity about where you might do things differently next time.

Most of our work cultures don’t work like this. Most talk a big game about “failing is how learn” but their actions scream “you suck and better get your act together fast.”

Those folks need more balls. Perhaps Tom has a few he can spare.

Welcome to the DesuckifyWork® podcast. The show where we cut through the BS and find ways to make work more fun, more human and less ridiculous. All of which makes your business more profitable, by the way.

(If you enjoy this one, please like, share, rate, review or subscribe to the podcast.)

Let the desuckifying begin.

You can follow Tom on LinkedIn. And check out his site at tom-hicks.com to learn more about his work.

If you enjoyed the conversation and would like to explore what a more human work culture could look like, I invite you to schedule a free half-hour discovery session. Type “meow” in the calendar invite and I’ll also send you a free DesuckifyWork® t-shirt!

Bye, everyone!

Bonus question from Tom:How will you integrate or allow yourself to have some low stakes failure and play in your work today?