Il coraggio di sbagliare | Federico Redaelli Susanna Mandelli | TEDxLiceo Malpighi Bologna

Quick Overview

The TEDx talk "Il coraggio di sbagliare" (The Courage to Make Mistakes) features Federico Redaelli, a designer, and Susanna Mandelli, an interior designer and former ballet dancer, who explore how embracing failure, drawing parallels between the discipline of ballet and the creative process, leads to growth and discovering one's true path, exemplified by Mandelli's career shift from dance to design.

Key Points: Federico Redaelli, a designer and project manager, initially feared failure, which he transformed by taking the leap into his chosen career path. Susanna Mandelli, an interior designer and former professional ballet dancer, highlights the rigorous discipline, perfectionism, and emotional expression inherent in ballet. Mandelli recounts that her career in dance, which demanded immense sacrifice (little food, no social life), ultimately did not represent her true future path, leading to a significant shift. Both speakers connect the discipline required in their respective fields—Redaelli in design and Mandelli in dance—to the necessity of embracing mistakes as opportunities for growth ("Kintsugi" philosophy). Mandelli explicitly states that the perceived stability of a fixed position in ballet was less valuable than learning to dance even when the music changed, underscoring adaptability over rigid security. The concept of Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold, is used as a metaphor for transforming life's wounds and failures into something beautiful and valuable. The common thread between ballet and design, according to Mandelli, is the pursuit of rigor, perfection, obsession for detail, balance, elegance, and beauty.

Context: This video features a TEDx event hosted by Liceo Malpighi in Bologna, themed "Il coraggio di sbagliare" (The Courage to Make Mistakes). The segment involves a conversation between Federico Redaelli, who identifies as a designer and project manager, and Susanna Mandelli, a designer who shares her background as a professional ballet dancer, discussing how confronting fear, embracing change, and viewing failures constructively shaped their professional lives.