The Failure to Fail

This post on failure tolerance at Cultural Offering nudged me into thinking about the failure to fail.

I have failed many times. No pride is taken in that. Some failures are just flat-out painful. Not all failures are character-building or filled with valuable lessons but there is a simple truth: it is hard to do anything meaningful in life without encountering failure. I would worry about putting anyone in a leadership position who has never encountered a serious set-back.

That's why some of the dazzling young careerists who learn 12 languages, read to lepers, serve in soup kitchens, accumulate awards, and make straight As before getting into Harvard worry me. An unblemished rise always does. I wonder how they'd be in a street-fight or if something happened to them which was so stunningly unfair that they could barely fathom it. Would they bounce back or crumble?

Compare George B. McClellan with Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War. McClellan had been a rising star and Grant was on the fringes, having known humiliation and failure. Despite (and perhaps because of) his achievements, McClellan developed a paralyzing form of indecisiveness as well as the tendency to blame others. Grant exhibited coolness, command, and the willingness to take responsibility. He was a modest man but a formidable achiever and few would argue that his failures played a minor role in strengthening his character and his skills. 

Recall the conversation between General Sherman and General Grant at Shiloh. Sherman, who had been considering whether a retreat was needed, changed his mind as he saw Grant who was standing in a heavy rain and calmly smoking a cigar. 

Sherman said, "Well Grant, we've had the devil's own day, haven't we?"

And Grant gave his now-famous reply: "Yes. Lick 'em tomorrow though."

They did.

[By the way, although Grant had been an obscure figure prior to the war, his qualities had been recognized by some. In 1861, a Confederate general, Richard Ewell, wrote: "There is one West Pointer, I think in Missouri, little known, and whom I hope the northern people will not find out. I mean Sam Grant. I knew him in the Academy and in Mexico. I should fear him more than any of their officers I have yet heard of." See Ulysses S. Grant on Leadership by John A. Barnes.]