Failing or Falling Short?

Regardless of the effort we put into something, the time we allocate and what we learn, there will be situations in which we prevented from reaching the end point. We are held back from accomplishing the goal we set out to do. Often times, we consider this failure. Even if it is purely by definition, which for failure is simply “a lack of success”. This isn’t necessarily an idea we need to challenge, because even with the best of intentions and effort we can still miss the mark. Rather, we need to delineate between failure and falling short. Their reasoning might be different, however where they lead us will be the same.

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In both our personal and professional lives, these things can—and will—happen. We might have signed up for a marathon, trained hard for the race and even learned the running technique that will give us the finishing time we are aiming for. However, come race day, the weather might turn. The conditions can be against us in every imaginable way in the form of rain, blistering sun, or even consistent head winds. All of which are totally out of our control and very real possibilities. If this was unexpected, and we aren’t prepared because of it, we might not make the finishing time we trained for. Even if we wore the appropriate gear and remained well hydrated, these elements will affect our overall performance. We still crossed the finish line, albeit not as quickly as we would have liked too. This is a prime case of falling short. Conditions, issues and circumstances outside of our control prevented us from completing something in the way we intended to. Where this trends into failure, is if we choose not to at least try. If we stop in the middle of the race, or decide not to start entirely, we are making the conscious choice to no longer pursue the goal we set out for, and fail to accomplish what we set out to do in the first place.

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In a professional sense, we need to look no further than Esther Crawford for an example. To recap, she was the Twitter employee who became an internet sensation for sleeping behind her desk to get work done. Some questioned her loyalty, and said this was unhealthy. However, anyone who has ever worked in a role they were truly passionate about would understand. There is a level of dedication to a craft or profession few experience, and the sense of satisfaction derived from this can be immense. She wanted to be a part of the solution and make the organization she was in better and fully believed in the work. That meant longer hours, a lot of work, and catching some shut eye on the floor by her desk. This loyalty though does not create a clear path to professional accomplishment. She became an internet sensation once more after news broke she was laid off just months after the picture spread across the internet. This could easily be labeled as a failure, but it is falling short. She worked hard, she did what was needed and was on her path towards what she defined as success. It was conditions outside of her control that resulted in her being laid off from the company. Even if she had made the conscious decision to leave on her own terms, she would still be falling short and simply redefining what success looks like somewhere else. Our professional sense of failure only comes when we make the conscious decision to stop doing the work itself. When we become so apathetic or actively work against doing the right thing, we are making the conscious decision to give up on the idea of professional accomplishment. This would be failure, and a clear indication we should redefine what it is we want in a professional role. Still, we should not align all of our accomplishments and sense of worth solely in our professional world.

This simple delineation between failing or falling short can have an immense impact on our motivation. Not to appoint blame, or shift it away from ourselves, but rather to set ourselves up for success the next time around. This means we also need to change our mindset, and realize it will take more work. Whether we fall short or fail, the next step is going to be more or less the same. We will take a step back, identify what went wrong, and what it will take to get it right the next time. The added benefit? We have the advantage of experience. We can easily identify the obstacles that prevented us from reaching what we set out to accomplish this time around, and will be able to plan accordingly in the form of what we will need to learn and the kind of support we need. Just like initially defining what success would look like, it comes down to our choice. We can choose how we respond to falling short and failure, and it is dependent on our mindset. Thomas Edison was once questioned about his numerous failures, to which he responded “I have not failed 10,000 times—I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.”.

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