3 ms·

Stop saying “fail”

14 points by rmason 3y ago

proc0 3y ago
If you're discussing what words to use, you have probably failed already. It's a good thing to be positive, however a strong aversion to negativity creates blind spots and sends you marching off the cliff as if nothing wrong ever happened. Avoiding the word "fail" won't save your from actually failing.
freitzkriesler2 3y ago
Short answer: no. Sometimes a failure is a failure. And instead of adjusting language in a sad attempt to cope, use it as a punch to the face to either get back in the game or move on.
TheAceOfHearts 3y ago
This reminds me of the Be Friends With Failure [0] comic, which is utterly timeless. [0]: https://m.webtoons.com/en/canvas/the-art-of-being-an-artist/be-friends-with-failure/viewer?title_no=340626&episode_no=12 https://m.webtoons.com/en/canvas/the-art-of-being-an-artist/...
- politelemon 3y ago
  What's different about the posted article is that it is based entirely on the premise that the next step after failure is nothing (or moping). So their path is to pretend it doesn't happen by using different words. I can kind of see what they're trying to do. The comic illustrates a much better way of dealing with it by acknowledging it and overcoming it.
Animats 3y ago
What is this, the business version of No Child Left Behind?
- freitzkriesler2 3y ago
  Pretty much, stuff like this is annoying and just like "spread the word to end the word" it is abjectly retarded.
  - diogenes4 3y ago
    Nit, but this kind of behavior takes an advanced degree of neuroticism. I don't think "retarded" is the best phrasing.
oldandtired 3y ago
The author needs to take a look at the Icon/Unicon programming languages where failure is an option. It allows for certain kinds of thinking (programming) that is far more clear than otherwise.
karim79 3y ago
It's probably far more acceptable to throw down one of those quotes as a manager or executive than as a lower-down-the-ladder employee.
Hasu 3y ago
> “Fail” is almost never the right word for what is happening. It’s so final, so negative, and it’s a dead end: What do you do after a failure? Mope? What about it is final or a dead end? "Failure" just means that an attempt was made that did not have the desired outcome. That's not final, you can make another attempt (usually) > Words have meaning. They can explain what’s really going on, and suggest what should be done next. The word “fail” accomplishes neither. Words sure do have meaning and "fail" implicitly does both of those things: it means you should try something else, and what you tried didn't work. It requires additional work and analysis to understand why it didn't work and what to try next, but an attempt not achieving an outcome is a fact and reframing it with different words doesn't change that. The proposed alternative words don't even come close to having the same meaning, and most are in fact things that themselves can fail or succeed.
spookybones 3y ago
“Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” -Samuel Beckett
Sakos 3y ago
This begins from the frame that failure is bad. But why? Failure means an opportunity for learning, for improving, for finding a better solution. I'd rather accept failure as an integral part of the process. You can't figure out what you don't know or understand without some form of failure.
curtisblaine 3y ago
Stop writing these titles using the imperative mood. They're aggressive, they're obviously there to cause a reaction in order to catch clicks and, in a world where almost everything is published to aggressively compete for your reaction / attention, they're annoying.
readthenotes1 3y ago
This reminds me of a class where one of the students said "the problem with kids in this locale is that they've never been told they're wrong". Or my granddad who mocks people saying "issue" instead of "problem". It's delusional "fake it til you make it" pop self help. If I offended anyone, I apologize --thats not who I am. (See what I did there? I completely avoided responsibility for my actions and lied through my teeth to you: it may not be who I want to be, but it is who I am)
rpdillon 3y ago
> Words have meaning. They can explain what’s really going on, and suggest what should be done next. The word “fail” accomplishes neither. I disagree. Failure prompts me to examine what went wrong and what I can change to make an improvement. Realizing that I failed gives me motivation to do this analysis and improve next time. > There are moments when we’ve truly, irrevocably, fatally failed, and we should say so. If a company has to shut down, especially before it achieved some meaningful success, then okay, we failed. Wait, what? Why is that not part of some larger iteration as well? Many founders stumble on their first company or two before finding success in a later attempt. Look, there are small failures and there are big failures, and I agree you can recover from small failures more easily than you can recover from big ones. But that doesn't change the definition of failure. Call it what it is.
jiriro 3y ago
The author sounds like a naive religious fool who “knows” what is good and what is bad. He must be absolutely ignorant about any principles of a language – most likely ignorant about any principles of a science:-)

14 points by rmason 3y ago

If you're discussing what words to use, you have probably failed already. It's a good thing to be positive, however a strong aversion to negativity creates blind spots and sends you marching off the cliff as if nothing wrong ever happened. Avoiding the word "fail" won't save your from actually failing.

freitzkriesler2 3y ago

Short answer: no. Sometimes a failure is a failure. And instead of adjusting language in a sad attempt to cope, use it as a punch to the face to either get back in the game or move on.

TheAceOfHearts 3y ago

This reminds me of the Be Friends With Failure [0] comic, which is utterly timeless. [0]: https://m.webtoons.com/en/canvas/the-art-of-being-an-artist/be-friends-with-failure/viewer?title_no=340626&episode_no=12 https://m.webtoons.com/en/canvas/the-art-of-being-an-artist/...

politelemon 3y ago
What's different about the posted article is that it is based entirely on the premise that the next step after failure is nothing (or moping). So their path is to pretend it doesn't happen by using different words. I can kind of see what they're trying to do. The comic illustrates a much better way of dealing with it by acknowledging it and overcoming it.

Animats 3y ago

What is this, the business version of No Child Left Behind?

freitzkriesler2 3y ago
Pretty much, stuff like this is annoying and just like "spread the word to end the word" it is abjectly retarded.
- diogenes4 3y ago
  Nit, but this kind of behavior takes an advanced degree of neuroticism. I don't think "retarded" is the best phrasing.

oldandtired 3y ago

The author needs to take a look at the Icon/Unicon programming languages where failure is an option. It allows for certain kinds of thinking (programming) that is far more clear than otherwise.

karim79 3y ago

It's probably far more acceptable to throw down one of those quotes as a manager or executive than as a lower-down-the-ladder employee.

Hasu 3y ago

> “Fail” is almost never the right word for what is happening. It’s so final, so negative, and it’s a dead end: What do you do after a failure? Mope? What about it is final or a dead end? "Failure" just means that an attempt was made that did not have the desired outcome. That's not final, you can make another attempt (usually) > Words have meaning. They can explain what’s really going on, and suggest what should be done next. The word “fail” accomplishes neither. Words sure do have meaning and "fail" implicitly does both of those things: it means you should try something else, and what you tried didn't work. It requires additional work and analysis to understand why it didn't work and what to try next, but an attempt not achieving an outcome is a fact and reframing it with different words doesn't change that. The proposed alternative words don't even come close to having the same meaning, and most are in fact things that themselves can fail or succeed.

spookybones 3y ago

“Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” -Samuel Beckett

Sakos 3y ago

This begins from the frame that failure is bad. But why? Failure means an opportunity for learning, for improving, for finding a better solution. I'd rather accept failure as an integral part of the process. You can't figure out what you don't know or understand without some form of failure.

curtisblaine 3y ago

Stop writing these titles using the imperative mood. They're aggressive, they're obviously there to cause a reaction in order to catch clicks and, in a world where almost everything is published to aggressively compete for your reaction / attention, they're annoying.

readthenotes1 3y ago

This reminds me of a class where one of the students said "the problem with kids in this locale is that they've never been told they're wrong". Or my granddad who mocks people saying "issue" instead of "problem". It's delusional "fake it til you make it" pop self help. If I offended anyone, I apologize --thats not who I am. (See what I did there? I completely avoided responsibility for my actions and lied through my teeth to you: it may not be who I want to be, but it is who I am)

rpdillon 3y ago

> Words have meaning. They can explain what’s really going on, and suggest what should be done next. The word “fail” accomplishes neither. I disagree. Failure prompts me to examine what went wrong and what I can change to make an improvement. Realizing that I failed gives me motivation to do this analysis and improve next time. > There are moments when we’ve truly, irrevocably, fatally failed, and we should say so. If a company has to shut down, especially before it achieved some meaningful success, then okay, we failed. Wait, what? Why is that not part of some larger iteration as well? Many founders stumble on their first company or two before finding success in a later attempt. Look, there are small failures and there are big failures, and I agree you can recover from small failures more easily than you can recover from big ones. But that doesn't change the definition of failure. Call it what it is.

jiriro 3y ago

The author sounds like a naive religious fool who “knows” what is good and what is bad. He must be absolutely ignorant about any principles of a language – most likely ignorant about any principles of a science:-)