“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.”Failure:
[Henry Ford]
Everyone eventually fails at something. Most of our failures are minor like getting behind on an assignment or telling a joke that no one laughs at. We stress out a little bit, then move on. For some, moving on means working hard to fix the problem. Others accept their role in the failure, but also accept the results. And there are some still who revert to a 12 year old mentality and attempt to blame everyone but themselves and could really care less about the results.
Many people will go through life never experiencing a spectacular failure. In other words, the failures they encounter will generally be isolated to a day or two of discomfort that is quickly forgotten. There is nothing wrong with this per se. Some roles in life just aren't that exciting or complicated. Large scale engineering does not fall into that category.
One of the interesting experiences I have had the privilege of being a part of was an education at the US Naval Academy. The entire freshman year (aka Plebe year) is designed to make most people fail. This isn't just another check box of intentional hazing. Rather, it is explicitly placing a group of young men and women who have largely been successful in academics or other endeavors into a position where success is almost unreachable. A few extraordinarily talented ones pull it off. But the rest of us had to learn time management, prioritization, and most importantly accountability for the tasks we simply could not achieve. We all walked away from that year knowing how to deal with adversity. Knowing the agonizing pain of pushing ourselves to the limit and still falling short. And above all, knowing how to pick ourselves up off the ground bruised and battered and press on to the next challenge.
Help Wanted:
This is why when I interview people, I try to drag out of them a story from their past where they have failed spectacularly. Amazingly, this is either difficult to find, or folks feel embarrassed to admit it. There is nothing wrong with failing. There are countless pioneers of the past who celebrate failure as nothing more than a learning point. When asked about his many attempts to get the light bulb right, Thomas Edison famously said "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." The ability to deal with and recover from adversity is an enormously valuable skill that should be highlighted on any resume. Demonstrate that you can push to the edge and learn from your mistakes. Show that when the going gets tough you don't fall apart under the pressure. Show that when you fall short, you are able to accept your role and seek self improvement.
Everything big I have ever done has been consistently understaffed or placed under timelines that are unreasonable at best. Eight hour days are a rare occurrence and lunch is something that gets inhaled while walking from one meeting to the next or sitting at your desk. Education background is a check box and skills are negotiable. Learning on the job is par for the course on big projects. I have time to teach someone how to write Interface Control Documents or Test Plans. I don't have time to discover they are going to fall apart when things don't go as planned.
I need engineers who have had it rough. I need a team who has left it all out on the field with nothing more to show than a plan to do it better next time. I needs folks who have failed spectacularly while seeking greatness and lived to try it again.
...and I'm hiring right now...
http://jobs.meetngc.com/brooklyn-jobs
