02.07.12
The Positive Side of Failure
[Cartoon]
Ok, we all know that when we fail we are to learn from our mistakes. But, is that really the positive side of failure or should we expect more? I believe there is more.
Failure is determined by an event missing its objectives. The objectives missed could be a schedule, competitors may do better, or a product may simply not work. The key is to recognize that the results may actually be something of potential value if given different objectives.
This is where creativity pays off. It’s the old saying, “When life gives you a lemon, make lemonade.” So if the objectives were missed, the positive-minded individual will examine the results and look for other opportunities. Other opportunities might be to find another application for the results or to apply the knowledge gained to produce new results.
Enterprise Architects live on the edge of potential failure. Part of their charter is to understand the business and new applicable technologies. With this knowledge, they advise senior management on corporate direction in the use of technology. Helping to determine when or if the corporation should take advantage of changes in Information Technology can result in failures. Some technologies fail, sometimes the technology is not mature enough to adopt, and sometimes the success of a competitor using the technology may indicate a delay in action. All of these failures are personal to the Enterprise Architect.
There are so many stories we have heard about projects coming out of an R&D effort that resulted in a completely different outcome than expected. One of those stories is how the programming language Java came about. This language was originally designed to support embedded systems communications. Then, due to the explosion in the use of the internet, Java became the backbone language for building high-performance internet applications.
The trouble with failure is that there is an emotional toll that can turn off the creative juices. This is to be expected. It was the creative juices that drove the initiative that failed. Why should anyone trust those juices again?
The true measure of failure is when someone can’t recover emotionally from the failure. Those that do recover will find ways to take advantage of their efforts and move on to greater things.
The real positive of failure is the discovery of who we are. Are we one that feels like a failure or one that feels like a winner taking steps towards great success?
Enterprise Architects are well-aware of the continuing evolution of technology. They creatively look for technology convergence that can provide breakthroughs in thinking. We are at one of those convergent junctions today. What is about to happen will give non-professional information technologists control of their use of automation in their business. No longer will they simply peer through windows and see only what applications let them see. They will be able to go inside, see how things work, and control their automation. – Enterprise Architects Masters of the Unseen City
Closing the Business / IT gap.
