Failure is an Option

by Scott H. Lewis

One of the legendary quotes to have come from the American space program was. "Failure is not an option." The words were supposedly spoken by NASA Flight Director Gene Kranz in Mission Control as scientists on the ground tried to help astronauts aboard the crippled Apollo 13 spacecraft safely return to earth.

It shouldn't come as any surprise that Kramz never actually said the words: Hollywood screenwriters coined the phrase and had the character playing Kranz say it in the Tom Hanks film, "Apollo 13." Yet the phrase struck a chord among business people, who have adopted it as a rallying cry.

It's nothing new to have a legend built on a fabrication. That happens often enough. What truly is surprising is that so many seem to believe that failure is not an option when, in reality, failure is absolutely an option.

Maybe not the option you'd choose, but an option, nonetheless.

People have a great deal of disdain for failure. It is perceived as being easy.

"Anyone can fail," they scoff. "Success comes from hard work and sacrifice."

Successful people - and those who yearn, strive, and labor for eventual success - seem to think that success is for everyone. We may not agree on religion or politics or morals, but the quest for success seems to be a uniting factor, some sort of genetic mandate.

The need to succeed is the foundation of get-rich-quick schemes, which take many forms, but all come down to the promise of easy money. Gambling is the most transparent of fast money making opportunities. Buy a lottery ticket and hit the jackpot. It's just that simple, right?

In my younger, more optimistic days, I played baccarat in the casinos of Las Vegas, Reno and Atlantic City. I had a system, as most gamblers do, and it was a pretty good one, for a while. Only two elements stood between me and an easy fortune: Math and luck. I've never been adept at math, and Lady Luck is just one in a long line of women who have played me for a sucker.

As I get older and realize that fabulous wealth may forever elude me, I find myself putting more faith in the proposition that Lady Luck may eventually be found to have a soft spot for me after all. I wouldn't be the first to face a positive reversal of fortune based on the appearance of luck.

At least I had teachers who didn't issue prophesies of my eventual certain failure - at least not publically.

When Isaac Newton was young, he performed so poorly in school that his teachers almost gave up on him. Newton, of course, eventually became the greatest English mathematician of his generation. Composer Ludwig van Beethoven's music teacher reported that, "as a composer, he is hopeless." He succeeded anyway, despite losing his hearing - certainly a disability for any musician. Thomas Edison's teacher gave up on him as well. The prolific inventor went on to greatly influence life in the 20th century, filing 1,093 U.S patents.

Albert Einstein's grades were so poor that his parents thought him mentally retarded. A teacher encouraged him to quit school. Of course, he went on to win the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics.

Michael Jordan is probably the greatest basketball player of all time. His speed, power, artistry, improvisational ability and unquenchable competitive desire made him the quintessential NBA superstar. Yet Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team due to what coaches saw as his "lack of skill."

Failure was an option for all of these fellows, and they had their share of it before the sun shone on their career paths. If hard work and perseverance are all that is required to attain success, there would be far more successful people in the world. In truth, there are only two kinds of people: people who are caught in a cycle of trying, but failing, and those that give up trying and failing after finding success. In a way, success can be seen as an impediment to repeated failure.

One early morning in Las Vegas, a casino employee tossed me this nugget: "When you hit the jackpot, stop and go home."

She was right of course. Today, I'm still waiting for the jackpot, and home is a fading memory.

Scott H. Lewis is an executive vice president at Willard. He can be reached at scott.lewis@twg.com.ua