A Successful Failure
August 16, 2012
Apollo 13, the attempted landing on the moon was considered a
Successful Failure. What an anomaly.
Even though it did not land on the moon, it was a success in that the
NASA team successfully brought our three astronauts home safely.
Here are the problems they faced.
-A sharp bang and vibration
-Warning light accompanying the bang (main B-bus under volt)
-Warning lights indicating the loss of two of Apollo 13’s three fuel
cells (primary source of electricity)
-One oxygen tank appeared to be completely empty,
-2nd oxygen tank was rapidly being depleted.
-Venting gas into space
-Crew attempted to close the hatch between the CM and the LM.
-Pressure in No. 1 oxygen tank continued to drift down, passing 300 psi
(Months later, after the
accident investigation was complete, it was determined that when No. 2 tank
blew, it either ruptured a line on the No. 1 tank or caused one of the valves
to leak. When the pressure reached 200 psi,
the crew and ground controllers knew they would lose all oxygen, which meant
that the last fuel cells would also die.
That is a whole passel of problems, wouldn’t you say?
But our story does not end there.
NASA immediately moved into crises mode and began working the problems,
and as we all know, they successfully brought our three astronauts home, ready
to face other adventures.
It was a successful failure.
I’m amazed at how many successful failures we can recount.
Thomas Edison once joked, “I
have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000
ways that do not work”. (He said
that when trying to find all the elements needed in producing a successful
light bulb.)
Michael Jordan did not make his high school basketball team. Later, after he became THE MICHAEL JORDAN, he
confessed, “I have missed more than 9,000
shots in my career. I have lost almost
300 games. On 26 occasions I have been
entrusted with the game-winning shot, and missed. I have failed over and over again in my
life. That is why I succeeded.”
J.K. Rowling started writing her first Harry Potter book when she
was a waitress. She was living on public
assistance, was divorced, and raising a child.
Her first manuscript was rejected twelve times. She is now one of the 12th richest
women in Great Britain. She once said
this, “Failure meant stripping away of
the inessential.”
Henry Ford had problems.
He forgot to put a reverse gear in his first car, and the Edsel was
famous for a hood that wouldn’t open, a horn that often got stuck, and doors that
wouldn’t close.”
Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard and failed in his first
business venture called Traf-O-Data, yet Microsoft became a household name and
made him one of the richest men in the world.
Winston Churchill failed the sixth grade, had a horrible stuttering
problem and lisp, and a long list of political failures prior to becoming Prime
Minister at age 62.
Vincent Van Gogh was not popular during his lifetime. He only sold one painting while alive, and suffered with anxiety and mental illness. Today he is credited with pioneering the Post Impressionism movement. He painted over 900 well-known works, including seven that have fetched over $670 million each.
Are you a successful failure? Failures happen, but what do we do with our failures? I hope we turn them into education.
Tom Watson, former chairman and CEO of IBM, once said,
"Want to be a success?
Double your failure rate."
Failures hurt. They sometimes cost a lot. So it's a pretty good idea to get something out of all that work.
Smart People learn from their failures.
They replay.
They analyze.
They make better and smarter plans.
And then they try again.
I wish for you abundant energy to try and try again.
Failure is not final.
P Michael Biggs
Offering
Hope
Encouragement
Inspiration
One
Word at a Time
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