Failing to Realize

“Failure is not an option.” This quote is famously attributed to Gene Kranz, the flight director for the ill-‐ fated Apollo 13 mission. An onboard explosion put the crew in peril and, as the capsule careened out of control thousands of miles away from the earth, back on the ground at Mission Control, Gene Kranz laid out the options. Failure wasn’t one of them, because not succeeding meant the crew would die. While it’s an oft-‐ used quote filled with moxie and bravado, the real-‐life Gene Kranz never really said these words. They were simply written for the movie adaptation of the Apollo 13 story. Even so, I like the quote because it forces us to ask the question: Is failure ever really an option? The truth is, it’s not only an option, most of the time it’s the likely outcome. While this can sound depressing, let me explain the upside. Unless your task is to diffuse an armed nuclear bomb, walk a tightrope across two skyscrapers or figure out how to get a crew of astronauts back to earth safely, failure is a distinct possibility. While success is almost always our objective, true success is rarely achieved without a string of failures first. So what do our failures show us?

Failure is a powerful teacher. Don’t ever forget that manure is also a great fertilizer. The best plants, the best ideas sometimes spring from this nutrient — rich substance. When we step in it, our job is not to simply wipe our shoe on the curb and forget about it.
Failure helps us hone our approach. It can be bruising to our ego, making us realize that we don’t yet possess the tools or knowledge to complete the task. We only thought we did.
Failure makes everyone a pawn. It’s a humbling experience to fall short, especially when others depend on us.
Failure is best used as a reminder. No one wants to fail, but the sting from doing so forces us to consider whether the task was worth the effort in the first place.
While failure is a reality, quitting never should be. The healthy byproduct of defeat is resiliency. If we never failed, we would never have to adjust the game plan, never consider alternate options, never get the opportunity to try again. Don’t miss that. Another attempt gives us the chance to improve. Without failure, we don’t search for a better way, and our ability to refine and build our skillset is limited. We don’t see the big picture. Constant success never teaches anybody anything. Prolonged success actually creates boredom. Reminds me of the allegory of a man who died and, in the afterlife, was given everything his heart desired. Everything came so easy: money was abundant, he always got any girl he wanted, and won every game he played. He finally asked someone in charge if they could fix it to let him fail once in awhile. He realized he needed the challenge. Winning had become boring. He didn’t like it so “perfect” up here in “heaven”. It was then that he was told “Heaven? Who said this was heaven? Welcome to hell.”
Failure is painful, yes, but used properly it also leads us to great rewards. It shows us how beautiful and worthwhile success can be. We learn more by trying than we do by arriving at our destination. The bigger the dream, the harder it is to accept failure.
Just remember that failure isn’t the end of the line. Sometimes we need to put dreams on hold as we rethink and readjust our approach. While failure is commonplace, it’s never something we should get used to. When we accept failure as inevitability, we lower our standards and our dreams get lost as a result. Sometimes we need to dream new dreams based on what we’ve learned. That’s the beauty of failure: while it seems to derail us momentarily, it’s frequently just a fork in the road that makes us slow down, stop and consider things. Used correctly, it frequently takes us to an even better destination. That’s why it’s important to never quit, never accept failure at face value. When we give in, throw in the towel, then all of our effort, everything we’ve learned, is all for naught. If I could improve the quote “Failure isn’t an option”, it would be “Quitting isn’t an option”. While quitting is the low point of failure, success isn’t the opposite of failure; it’s the result of failing effectively.

So today, be brave in the face of tall odds! Have a great day! Love dad

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