Make:: Projects that fail are rarely published — but they teach valuable lessons that often lead to success. If you’ve spent much time designing and building projects, you know this well. I certainly do. Some of my failed projects made a major impact on my career in electronics and science.
5 comments:
Sometimes, as a maker, it is hard to, in good conscious, tell myself that whatever it is that I am working on or prototyping will really be worth the time that I am putting into it. I could be spending this time developing my skills in something that I know I can get a job in, or networking to find a job, why am I spending all of my time developing myself to do a job that does not exist and I don’t even know what it is yet? The answer to that question is I hope “because youll fail and youll learn and then youll change the world”. People that change the world I don’t think set out to change the world, they set out to work on a project in their garage to solve a problem that the rest of the world didn’t even know they had. And by fixing it or failing to fix it, they change some little thing, or inspire someone else to change some little thing, and it just works. I can say that I have certainly learned the most from actually working on projects, weather they fail or succeed, much more so than being in class all the time. And I agree, one should not be discouraged by a failed project, you should look at what you could have done better, but don’t dwell on it, just do it better next time.
While being here at Carnegie Mellon, I’ve been focused more on physical process than I ever had been on product. Sure, there were instances where I needed to, but the process was what important. And it was the projects that failed that made me better. Wait until the last minute to do a Susan box and get a C? Well, maybe I shouldn’t have procrastinated and watched so much Netflix. Even if your project fails after all of your research, you’ve still learned from doing all of the research and applying yourself towards a project. Yes, it sucks, and sometimes there’s nothing you can do about it. But if you go back and pin point what you did or where you went wrong, then your work might not be for naught. Your failed project might lead you to bigger and better projects and although it didn’t get “picked up,” good can still come for it. You just have to be more creative in finding it.
I found this to be very true about every project I've worked on here at CMU. Each project i start out by having a firm idea that has good intention and direction. this initial idea usually includes a process i have never attempted before and want to learn more about. i then ask a teacher about my process and teachers like ben carter are able to not only point me in the right direction on how to do that but also to come up with new ways of doing what i need to do. the hardest thing for me to let go of is the original idea. as i fail different process and strive to improve what i'm making the project itself changes. fortunately i often am able to create something that i'm proud of and learned lot from. on the next project that is similar, i implement those skills and improve my processes. Ive found myself twice as good at making stuff after my first semester here.
At the drama school of Carnegie Mellon, I often find myself forgetting the outside world. I am so busy focusing on my own problems, learning my own lessons, I fail to realize that there are so many people outside of my bubble, outside of theater in general, who are struggling in almost identical ways. Today in acting class we were discussing the importance of finding specificity in an emotional scene, so that it doesn’t become a general wash. I immediately identified this issue as the primary mishap that characterized my second round of free scenes. I also identified it as one of the most valuable lessons I could’ve learned. Now, I am so much more cautious of becoming “over-emotional,” when I act, something that, in my opinion, has improved my skill greatly. The author of this article came to the same conclusion: the projects that fail are ultimately the most valuable. What’s so cool, in my opinion, is how such different mediums, acting and electronic science, could lead to the same ending place.
54101A, Andrew Smith Acting I, Kate Rosenberg
First and fore most, I freaking love failed project. This is because they really do present you with a ton of opportunity and potential. Before the project is deemed a failure it has to be done, and that alone take a lot of learning and growing to happening. Then you go to implement the project and flat out fail. Which is totally what you did not intend to do, but because of a variety of reasons you did. No big deal. Now you are lucky enough to be presented with another opportunity to go through the learning process that was done when you had done the project the first time. Now you are doing ne learning and building upon the foundation that was created the first time. That is why it is probably a really good idea to think of failed project as a way of presenting you with the opportunity to get a second chance and do more learning and growing.
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