26A – Celebrating Failure

A time this semester that I’ve failed:

To relate to this class, throughout the course I failed to specify a problem (a very specific and defined problem). Therefore my solutions were somewhat all over the place. My problem was climate change (yes very broad). This came to bite me in the butt when I would interview people and they would have to ask me what the question was, what the problem was, and what was my solution (especially in the beginning but also still occurs). I tried getting more specific in my second interview; I defined that I wanted to work with sustainable architecture. Yet still super broad. I have the problem that I didn’t know what I wanted to work with specifically (for lack of technical knowledge and research). So the second interview was still a failure, I had tried targeting customers I thought I wanted to work with, and they would give me more broad answers than super specific because I couldn’t define what I wanted to define. Throughout time, and interviews with different people, and more people with knowledge of what I was trying to get at (helping the environment through some area of sustainable architecture) I was able to narrow my focus a lot more. The first interviews with these “experts” was thoroughly embarrassing for me because they understood what I wanted but also not at the same time. They would give me some responses they had from previous knowledge, and tried guiding me throughout the way. I am a lot more specific in my answers now because of their help. 

What I learned from it: 

I learned how to specify my problem. I learned how to get super specific. I learned that in many things in life, people want specific details. It makes things clear. I am very interested in entrepreneurship, and the only way for people to want to invest in my product is if they know exactly what they are getting and what benefits it brings to them. Right now I have a more specific problem and solution to my very broad initial idea, I want to reduce electrical costs for people through changes in house design which decreases carbon emissions which helps to minimize climate change. 

With practice and more understanding of entrepreneurship and starting a business I care for, I realized I had to get very specific because in the beginning I can’t do everything. I realized that if I start only targeting a specific market, I would target their needs, and then I can expand to whatever I want. Expansion occurs slowly and naturally, I shouldn’t want to save all major world problems in one go (that would be pretty amazing though). I also realized that I can ask for help. It shouldn’t be an embarrassing point. Only when I failed at getting a specific topic myself, did I actually start targeting what I wanted with the help of others. 

Reflect on what you think about failure: 

Failure is one of my largest weaknesses, I get embarrassed and therefore stressed when I fail. In this course, and even more in this semester, I have failed in a lot of different things that I haven’t typically failed. Classes were the go-to for when I thought I failed. Now I fail sometimes at work, I fail in ideas I have for start-ups, I fail at networking, I fail at cooking. But it really is a part of life. I learned how to cook some delicious meals because of all the trial and error I put in, I learned to always try something out to my maximum at work before asking for help (I have a lot of knowledge I don’t credit myself to), and I learned that I have some good ideas, but I need to refine them. Failure has actually given me confidence; when I recognize I failed and try something else. I am more likely to take risks, because I have heard so much talk about failure and everyone fails. Why should I be completely scared to take a risk on something I believe is important and could work. If it fails (and I am not bankrupt or lose people I care for) I can get back up and learn something else.