If you're not failing you're not trying.
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If you're not failing you're not trying.
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Re: If you're not failing you're not trying.
#2I find the notion of failing as something that should be aspired to worrisome. Often the cost of failure is too high.
You don't want an airliner-pilot to seek failure. If banks make a big mistake and we slide into recession, people loose jobs, should we pat them on the shoulder for trying? What about the judge that sends an innocent man to prison? What about the solider that accidentally shoots an unarmed man? Can we assume he has learned from his mistake and will now be a better soldier? While this might be the case, the answer must be: No, we shouldn't.
Instead of postulating a culture of "fail often", we should find a higher standard. One that is based on hard work, sober and educated decision making and quality.
Furthermore it can be argued that one can learn more from success than from failure. Failure can be a byproduct of trying, but by no means it should be inverted into a measurement of success.
Let's stop this trend towards failure-ism now. I have a feeling that it might have very negative consequences.
Re: If you're not failing you're not trying.
#3I wrote about this in detail some time back:
http://tuhinkumar.com/journal/screw-up/
Think-Screw-Iterate-Screw-Iterate-Succeed (very similar to Feynman algorithm)
Re: If you're not failing you're not trying.
#4I find the notion of failing as something that should be aspired to worrisome. Often the cost of failure is too high. You don't want an airliner-pilot to seek failure. If banks make a big mistake and we slide into recession, people loose jobs, should we pat them on the shoulder for trying? What about the judge that sends an innocent man to prison? What about the solider that accidentally shoots an unarmed man? Can we…
We do not expect an airline flyer to be learning how to do somersaults in air whit passengers.
The post is to be seen in the light of big corporations and individuals who are too afraid to fail and always go for the safer option which is mostly the local minima.
To be able to reach the global maxima of one's potential when you are at the peak of a local maxima, you might need to slide down and then learn to climb the higher mountain.
Re: If you're not failing you're not trying.
#5True growth only lies at the edge of failure
Re: If you're not failing you're not trying.
#6I find the notion of failing as something that should be aspired to worrisome. Often the cost of failure is too high. You don't want an airliner-pilot to seek failure. If banks make a big mistake and we slide into recession, people loose jobs, should we pat them on the shoulder for trying? What about the judge that sends an innocent man to prison? What about the solider that accidentally shoots an unarmed man? Can we…
Thanks for your comment scrrr, and while I see where you're coming from I don't agree. You brought up airline pilots and how they shouldn't seek failure. Obviously you don't want them to seek failure while they are in the sky. But in fact they seek failure ALL THE TIME while being trained. They simulate systems malfunctions and bad weather conditions and they mess up. In the simulator. But when they face those obstacles in the air they are invariably better prepared than had they never challenged themselves in the first place in the name of success.
Re: If you're not failing you're not trying.
#7True growth only lies at the edge of failure
Agreed, thanks for your thoughts.
Re: If you're not failing you're not trying.
#8I find the notion of failing as something that should be aspired to worrisome. Often the cost of failure is too high. You don't want an airliner-pilot to seek failure. If banks make a big mistake and we slide into recession, people loose jobs, should we pat them on the shoulder for trying? What about the judge that sends an innocent man to prison? What about the solider that accidentally shoots an unarmed man? Can we…
We do not expect an airline flyer to be learning how to do somersaults in air whit passengers. The post is to be seen in the light of big corporations and individuals who are too afraid to fail and always go for the safer option which is mostly the local minima. To be able to reach the global maxima of one's potential when you are at the peak of a local maxima, you might need to slide down and then learn to climb the…
Whoa I love the local maxima metaphor that's awesome. And I agree, failure is all about personal growth and overcoming fear.
Re: If you're not failing you're not trying.
#9i was just reading about this today in "Rework", about failing in obscurity. similar notion to failing at something mundane with the M&M's. relish the opportunity you have while operating in obscurity, to fail as often as you can so you can adjust and learn and tweak and process all the data that comes with that.
also reminds me of the zuckerberg quote: "unless you are breaking stuff, you are not moving fast enough." failure isn't the goal, rather a byproduct of good work.
Re: If you're not failing you're not trying.
#10i was just reading about this today in "Rework", about failing in obscurity. similar notion to failing at something mundane with the M&M's. relish the opportunity you have while operating in obscurity, to fail as often as you can so you can adjust and learn and tweak and process all the data that comes with that. also reminds me of the zuckerberg quote: "unless you are breaking stuff, you are not moving fast enough."…
I had never heard that zuckerberg quote before but I love it do you remember where you got it from?