Bolt VI: Learn from Failure
Commentary
Own your Mistakes. Not every workshop has a Leatherface*, and owning your mistakes should not cost anything. Money is evil and is not why we care for the workshop or our responsibilities. Our parties do not depend on people making mistakes.
The best way to learn a hard lesson is if it has three characteristics:
- it is embarrassing (everyone knows you fucked up)
- it is potentially deadly (or could maim you)
- it is ultimately harmless (you walk away from it unscathed)
One time I opened a hot engine radiator cap thinking that I would "burp it". The explosion only caused temporary damage (first degree burns, a gigantic mess, clothing soaked with coolant), and was extremely embarrassing. The gas station attendant was deeply annoyed that he had to bring a bin of cat litter out to the lot and deal with my gigantic mess. This is an example of the best kind of failure: potentially fatal, unforgettably embarrassing and painful, no long-term harm. I will never forget this lesson, and anyone that I tell the story to will know not to do what I did. The failure pays dividends.
Another excellent example: My $500M Mars Rover Mistake
It is critical that you notice and metabolize your own mistakes. What does that mean? To metabolize your mistake is to process it and use it for fuel. You don't just acknowledge it, put it behind you and move on. No, you eat it. The mistake sustains you. It becomes a part of you. You are the person that did the mistake. Maybe you won't do it again, but the mistake is partly WHY you won't do it again. Reflect on it, relate it to other experiences and future work. Let it be a part of you so that it can help you again and again.
It is easier if you know that others make mistakes too. For this reason, we keep a public workshop log of mistakes. It's partly an "X DAYS SINCE LAST ACCIDENT" meme, and partly a way for us to socialize mistake-making. You shouldn't be proud of your mistakes, but you should honor them. Some people make very few mistakes, but they probably don't push their boundaries. Perhaps they make them but are blind to them - this is arguably even worse. The Failure Log is a way for us to lovingly give ourselves shit for the dumb stuff we do, and hopefully prevent serious damage. Putting your mistake on the board is embarrassing and important. Being embarrassed about admitting that you didn't wear eye protection is better than being embarrassed about losing vision in one eye. Or losing a finger. Or (worst of all) injuring someone else.
It is the mark of an expert to be able to own your mistakes with some amount of shame, humility, and humor.
Everyone makes mistakes.
- Sacrifice to Leatherface was one of the Ten Bullets at Tom Sachs studio. Leatherface was a chainsaw wielding action figure glued to the top of a swear jar. When you messed up, you sacrificed to Leatherface to show contrition. How much? Not sure! This was part of the problem I had with the Bullet, it wasn't clear enough for me. The money in the Leatherface jar was used to throw studio parties. I liked the underlying motivation: call out your failures. I didn't like the implementation.