Failure is not a badge of honour
The panelist said something that struck a chord with me… “It’s not failures that define you, its what you do after that”…
Coming from a software development experience, i thought of the many application codes that i had written which fail the user acceptance tests due to code defects… i would then go back and fix the defects, and rerun the tests… it would either work or throw up some other defects… and finally the code would be ready for prime time!
i don’t remember feeling any social stigma because my code had defects… guess the software development life cycle (SDLC) is designed to allow for failures, so that people are able to innovate and create something new!
So, today i’m going to apply some software development lifecycle (SDLC) lessons to life’s failures…
You are not a failure
My class 12th results were so miserable that after reading my results on the notice board, i left my college in a blur. I reached the railway station and instead of taking the train home, i just sat there for a couple of hours… my plans of joining an engineering school looked so remote that i felt like everything had come to an end…. i felt like a failure.
Reflecting upon this today, i can say that the results weren’t really miserable, they just fell short of my expectations and forced me to think of alternates.
In SDLC language, my code had not handled exception scenarios (i.e not getting the expected marks), and so the code had hung (i.e. sitting at the railway station), not knowing how to process the situation.
Failure is not the opposite of Success
In my previous corporate role, i was aspiring for a promotion. I knew i was ready, i had received enough feedback to say i could make it and it almost felt like it would happen that year. But it didn’t, because 1 stakeholder didn’t approve of it. I had equated being promoted to being successful, and so felt like my success was taken away from me.
Reflecting upon this today, i can say that not meeting a goal may feel like not being successful, but it’s generally a matter of one right step to reach the goalpost.
In SDLC language, i had not done proper requirement analysis, and so the code had missed handling a use case of this stakeholder.
Failures are not a badge of honour
A friend of mine used his failures for getting sympathy…. it worked initially, but after a point, people were tired of the ‘victimhood’ card that was being played over and over again…
Reflecting upon this today, i can say that failures are battle scars, and not a badge of honour …
In SDLC language, you don’t get accolades for the number of defects in your code… your code has to finally commit & be ready for prime time use.
“Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game” — Babe Ruth
#fridaymusings #zenesse #coaching #personalbranding #failures #success #software #SDLC
