Great Failures .....

Indomitable Will - Douglas Bader
Although this all happened a several ago, the message is still an inspiring one. In 1930's in UK there was a young air pilot called Douglas Bader who lived for flying. He was acknowledged to be a brilliant pilot, and could make his plane do stunts which many normal pilots could only dream about. Unfortunately a crash caused him to have both legs amputated at the knees. For most people, this would have been the end of their flying days, but Douglas Bader was not 'most people'.

He not only flew again but trained pilots during WW2, and became a hero, who inspired, by his example many young trainee pilots. His record of 'direct hits' on German invading planes was extraordinary. When shot down over enemy territory and captured, the Germans had such respect for him that they allowed a special dispensation for an 'allied plane' to drop a spare pair of legs to him.

Despite his handicap he still managed to escape twice from prisoner of war camps. He was acknowledged by all who knew him to be a courageous and indomitable spirit.

Thanks everlearner for the amazing list of great achievers.
I think that failure is a positive component not a negative one.
In our life we need constantly good feedback to understand the right direction to follow.
I take failures simply as feedbacks and I try to understand a way to direct my life in a different direction or to correct my path.
It's amazing how much we can learn from failures and I think that your long list of successes is a demonstration.

Blind Ambition

Charlie Boswell has always been one of my heroes. He has inspired me and thousands of others to rise above circumstances and live our true passion. Charlie was blinded during World War II while rescuing his friend from a tank that was under fire. He was a great athlete before his accident and in a testimony to his talent and determination he decided to try a brand new sport, a sport he never imagined playing, even with his eyesight . . . golf!

Through determination and a deep love for the game he became the National Blind Golf Champion! He won that honor 13 times. One of his heroes was the great golfer Ben Hogan, so it truly was an honor for Charlie to win the Ben Hogan Award in 1958.

As Brian Tracy wrote in one of his books - "If you want to be successful, you have to double you number of mistakes!"

This is true because a mistake (or failure) is a mistake ONLY if you don't learn anything from it.

Former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam : 'A Leader Should Know How to Manage Failure'

India Knowledge@Wharton: Could you give an example, from your own experience, of how leaders should manage failure

Kalam: Let me tell you about my experience. In 1973 I became the project director of India's satellite launch vehicle program, commonly called the SLV-3. Our goal was to put India's "Rohini" satellite into orbit by 1980. I was given funds and human resources -- but was told clearly that by 1980 we had to launch the satellite into space. Thousands of people worked together in scientific and technical teams towards that goal.

By 1979 -- I think the month was August -- we thought we were ready. As the project director, I went to the control center for the launch. At four minutes before the satellite launch, the computer began to go through the checklist of items that needed to be checked. One minute later, the computer program put the launch on hold; the display showed that some control components were not in order. My experts -- I had four or five of them with me -- told me not to worry; they had done their calculations and there was enough reserve fuel. So I bypassed the computer, switched to manual mode, and launched the rocket. In the first stage, everything worked fine. In the second stage, a problem developed. Instead of the satellite going into orbit, the whole rocket system plunged into the Bay of Bengal. It was a big failure.

That day, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, Prof. Satish Dhawan, had called a press conference. The launch was at 7:00 am, and the press conference -- where journalists from around the world were present -- was at 7:45 am at ISRO's satellite launch range in Sriharikota [in Andhra Pradesh in southern India]. Prof. Dhawan, the leader of the organization, conducted the press conference himself. He took responsibility for the failure -- he said that the team had worked very hard, but that it needed more technological support. He assured the media that in another year, the team would definitely succeed. Now, I was the project director, and it was my failure, but instead, he took responsibility for the failure as chairman of the organization.

The next year, in July 1980, we tried again to launch the satellite -- and this time we succeeded. The whole nation was jubilant. Again, there was a press conference. Prof. Dhawan called me aside and told me, "You conduct the press conference today."

I learned a very important lesson that day. When failure occurred, the leader of the organization owned that failure. When success came, he gave it to his team. The best management lesson I have learned did not come to me from reading a book; it came from that experience.