If you have time to watch the whole 24 minute 2011 Dartmouth Commencement Address by Conan O'Brien, you should. It's classic Conan. The part that got my attention starts at 16:16 in. That's where he talks about his change in professional direction.

O'Brien recalled his departure from The Tonight Show after 7 months. NBC was looking for a home for Jay Leno after Leno's poor showing in prime time. We've heard O' Brien talk about his bitterness over the whole affair. But his Dartmouth address was something different.

O'Brien, after a 16 minute comedy monologue, used the platform to tell graduates how the NBC failure freed him to experiment with new directions noting, "Whether you fear it or not, true disappointment will come.  But with disappointment comes clarity, conviction and true originality."

He then spoke of of his professional reinvention by trying things he would of never considered. "I did a lot of silly unconventional, spontaneous and seemingly irrational things. And guess what. With the exception of the blue leather suit, it was the most satisfying and fascinating year of my professional life." He looks back fondly during the past year. O'Brien said he never had more fun or been more challenged by the experiences after NBC.

It's truly interesting how some people take failure and turn it around. Another case is Steve Jobs. In his Commencement Address to Stanford in 2005, he talks of his failure of being forced out of Apple in 1985. During that time he started a new computer company, Next Computer, as well as starting the animation company Pixar. Jobs also describes that time as liberating. Below are both addresses.

Conan at Dartmouth 2011

Steve Jobs at Stanford 2005