This post is a sequel to The Post that Gets the F which can be read, or not read, to enjoy the following:
If we are to glorify failure, we should expand on its definition and its context. Failure is not a pursuit we want our bomb squads to embrace with open on arms.
It must be acknowledged that failure has a much more complex significance than any shiny red F on a quarter exam can imply.
The first failure I can recall involved a snowman, my younger sister, and a distraction. In the process of building a snowman with my younger sister, I decided I must go inside to fetch a carrot. Dusk was falling, the temperature dropping, and we had both watched our older siblings go in for similar "errands" without return.
"You'll come back outside?" she asked
"Yes," I said, wondering why I wouldn't.
I did not. As it turns out, I got distracted by the television screen, and never returned to my sister or the snowman. I failed on my word.
What do we call this type of failure, and should we glorify this particular failure as I implied in my last post?
Let's compile the list of failure types so far. I say "let's" because this is a list compiled by multiple people and your input in the comment section is encouraged:
Careless Failure
Authentic Failure
Low Risk Failure
High Risk Failure
Fail-safe
Ignorant Failure
Calculated Failure
Planned Failure
I refuse to include quitting on this list as I believe quitting is its own, and lesser category.
But didn't I quit on the snowman?
Yes, and I deserve the lesser recognition but if you read carefully, you'll remember that it wasn't the snowman I admitted failing to, it was my word. And what type of failure was that?
Fast forward 16 years. I'm in college and I've been freshly elected captain of the university's off road SAE Baja racing team. We traveled from Northern Michigan to Bellingham, Washington to race our in-house built vehicle. Many late nights were spent tuning the brakes, adjusting the steering, and installing shock mounts.
In Washington, our vehicle made a lap at the start of the 4-hour endurance race on the 2 mile track, and then our vehicle disappeared. The track was diverse and there was no knowledge of where the vehicle was, or where to request for the tow vehicle to go. Once it was finally found, it was determined the shock mounts were installed on way too late of a night.
The tow to the pits was lengthy and chewed up most of our time. The repair was a crap shoot, though part of me enjoyed the adrenaline of trying to come up with a repair, and working with an energetic team, giving and taking orders. It wasn't enough. The car got back on the track, but only to break a chain and the end of the race came before any more laps could be made.
We had gone across six states, only to turn over one lap. What type of failure would you categorize that?:
Careless Failure
Authentic Failure
Low Risk Failure
High Risk Failure
Fail-safe
Ignorant Failure
Calculated Failure
Planned Failure
Fast forward five more years. I am taking my certification tests to become a teacher. I passed my Industrial Arts certification with no sweat. The Spanish minor, though, a minor I had felt cornered into choosing, required me to take a certification test for Spanish. I failed, costing me $4,000 off of my first year's salary. I had slightly above a B average in all of my Spanish classes. What type of failure is that?:
Careless Failure
Authentic Failure
Low Risk Failure
High Risk Failure
Fail-safe
Ignorant Failure
Calculated Failure
Planned Failure
I'll let you contemplate with the encouragement to add different types of failures, and, heck, your own failure experiences! (It's not as torturous as it's sounds, the opposite actually) And in return, I'll get down to the specifics in the next post.
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