The Case for Failing Upward

What started as a quick 15-minute experiment became a small creative failure — and a helpful reminder.

I tried to turn a thread from Shaan Puri into a slide deck to read it better and save the slides I wanted. Especially the ones I wanted to show my kids. I’ve been discussing frameworks with them, and this was a useful one.

Seemed simple:

1. Unroll the thread
2. Grab the images
3. Auto-load them into Canva or Slides

None of it worked the way I hoped. Like, not at all.

But in the process, I learned:

1. How to unravel threads – Threadreader App
2. How to bulk download images from X – Imageye
3. That Canva’s “bulk create” isn’t there yet
4. That Google Slides definitely has its uses

And I had this thought:

You don’t always need a win to move forward. Sometimes progress looks like failing upwards. 

Shaan’s thread discussed the 4 R’s of Bad Art – Routine. Reduce. Restrict. Remix. And this little project hit all four!

So if you’re stuck or not sure what to build —

Just start something.

Even if it breaks.

Even if it fails.

You’ll still come out ahead with the skills and tools you’ve picked up.

You can teach an old dog new tricks.

But you can’t teach a lazy dog anything.