Failure is inevitable, so embrace it

It was Pema Chodron who wrote

“We think that the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It's just like that.“

This is true wisdom, of course. Nothing is perfect. Everything tends towards failure.

This is also a founding principle of Chaos Theory. Everything tends towards chaos. Order is always disrupted.

We needed acknowledge this in our work as governance and compliance professionals because it helps us. It helps us realise that nothing is beyond failure.

Embracing the possibility of failure pushes us to explore the nooks and crannies of where failure might emerge.

Good governance accepts the possibility of failure.