Value in Failure vs. Value in Success

[sanddrag]

While there is definite value in each style of teaching and learning, I prefer to take an approach where I demonstrate and teach successful methods before allowing students to proceed down a road of failure. In FRC specifically, failure can be disastrous, and there is often limited time in which success cannot be realized after a catastrophic failure. In the workshop, failure can be expensive, and even life-threatening.

A problematic dynamic and culture becomes apparent when failure persists for such a duration and reoccurs so frequently that students begin to accept it as the norm, and never learn the proper way to do things.

If you look at Team 696 pre-2012 and post-2012, you'll see a clear difference. That was the year in which we decided as a team, we are going to do things the right way, and learn how to do things the right way, and teach each other how to do things the right way, and take some sense of pride in our work and hold high standards of quality in everything we do. It has drastically transformed our robots, our students, our lab, and the way we work. Whodathunk?

[Clem1640]

Failure can be a great and valuable learning experience, but this requires a few crucial mindsets and capabilities:

1) Introspection. You must firmly believe that your failure was due to factors (at least in significant part) under your control. Therefore, by doing something different, you might succeed. If you assign your failures to outside agents, then you really cannot productively learn from them.
2) Critical Analysis. Understanding the factors behind your failures, your shortfalls, your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Understand how you might succeed and what changes you might make to your habits / processes to improve your prospects to succeed.
3) The will (and the physical/financial/temporal capability) to change what you do and the way you do it (your processes) in order to succeed.
4) The ability to inspire your team to make the necessary process changes that are needed for success.

I mentor a team which, during my early years of mentoring, was conspicuous for never winning anything. Our robots (and our processes) were bloody awful. This situation was very discouraging; to the point that it was difficult making a case for mentors to stay and sponsors to support us.

Our tipping point came in 2008 (Overdrive), where, frankly, our robot was so bad that it was undrivable. This led us to drastically change the way we worked. We started meeting year-round. We started a summer program to develop basic knowledge; initially to learn how to make competent drive trains; later to drive this competency into other areas. The inspiration for change was clearly failure-driven.

Our initial successes were small ones, but quick (2009, Lunacy): an engineering award; an off-season victory (as 2nd pick). Small successes. But for a team accustomed to never winning anything, these successes were enormously inspiring and reinforced the process changes we had started. We kept up our drive to improve. We still do.

Both Failure and Success can have enormous value, both from a standpoint of learning and inspiration. Much of the value depends upon how you internalize and utilize the experience.

Success, of course, also brings hazard. Of hubris and arrogance. Again, how you use these experiences generally determines the value.