Learn How To Fail & Succeed (page 1 of 2)	
Learn How To Fail & Succeed	
Engineering students at Northwestern University (Illinois) are required to pass a 
course to solve the unsolvable — that is, told to solve a problem wit
h no known 
solution.  The course is called Design,Thinking, and Communication.  Why is this 
type of course required for students by Northwestern and other colleges?
 
Colleges know that students may arrive on campus without skills — skills needed 
to turn failure into success.  In high school, students may have graduat
ed without 
failing one course.  But graduates find in their careers — ups (successes) and 
downs (failures).  Colleges also know that high school teachers assign projects by 
telling you what to do, and telling you what is needed for "A" grade.  B
ut, in the 
work world, there may be no one who can tell you what to do, and no rule
s for a 
grade.   Therefore, colleges decided that it is their duty to teach students:  
1) How to turn failure into success.  2) How to deal with confusion by
 setting goals.  3) How to stay 
positive in a job — make steps towards "better" rather than leap to "
perfect."
Design, Thinking, and Communication class requires these things:  
1) Students work in teams of four.  2) Students are given a budget of $100.  
3) Students design and build devices to help disable persons with a tas
k.  
4) The tasks have no known solution yet.  
Assigned tasks may include:   a) Equip stroke victim who has lost most use of one hand with method o
r 
device to be able to knit.  b) Make a bottle opener for people with onl
y one arm.  c) Make something to 
allow a partially paralyzed person to put on socks.  d) Create a walker
 for a patient that glides over different 
surfaces, is stable, and has shock absorbers to cushion arms and shoulde
rs when leaning on the walker.  
Students drive to hospitals to meet with disabled patients, get to know 
about the disabilities, and 
think of solutions.   Students are not graded on the success of solution.  Students are grade
d on how well 
they:  1) work with patients; 2) talk and listen; 3) work as a team; 
4) think of solutions; 5) create something 
for patients to try; 6) listen to patients' good and bad feedback; 7) 
how well students present their solution 
to the rest of the class.  Here are the skills students learn by tacklin
g problems without solutions.  In addi -
tion, these skills help workers turn career failure into career success:
STRATEGY (WHAT YOU DO)          SKILL (WHAT YOU LEARN) 
Listen to and understand people, their personalities, their needs  EMPATHY
Be open to new and different ways of thinking      CREATIVITY
Get help from others and give help to others        TEAMWORK
Try many ideas, even strange-sounding ones       BRAINSTORMING
Adopt an entrepreneurial (business owner) attitude      RISK-TAKING
Accept failures that will always happen, with a polite attitude    HUMILITY
If you do not succeed, bounce back to try and try and try again  RESILIENCY

College & Career Publishing.  Permission to use with usworkworld.com subscription.  
Self-talk (way a person thinks) may cause failure or success.  Athletes know 
that positive self-talk can improve their game performance.  Winning 
athletes learn how to change negative self-talk into positive self-talk.
  
Negative self-talk is a habit learned in childhood and must be broken.  
The 
way to break a habit is to smash it and immediately replace it with some
thing better.  For example, if you 
say, "I can never do that," immediately tell yourself, "I can do it this way" or "I will find a way."  Another 
example is to wear a rubber band around the wrist, then whenever you think a self-
harmful thought: 1) pull 
the rubber band; 2) let it snap on the wrist; 3) then think a positive
 thought to replace the negative thought.  
For example, "I am a loser" — SNAP — "Not everyone has a home run record like Babe Ruth. I will 
practice more," or "I am ugly" — SNAP — "I will eat right and exercise to improve myself."  
NEGATIVE SELF-TALK      TURNED INTO POSITIVE SELF-TALK
Nothing goes right for me.      Overcoming problems makes me stronger.  I can get it right.
I should never have . . .       Next time, I will . . . 
No one ever bothers to talk to me.    I will say "Hi" to people and talk to them first.
I'm no good at anything.      I'm good at . . .      
What's the use?        I won't let this stop me.  Things can get better.
What if I fail?          Many good people fail, then try again, and succeed.
It's too much or too complicated for me.  I'll break it down into parts and tackle each part successfully.
Examples of people who failed before success:  Henry Ford (went broke 5
 times before starting Ford 
Motor Company).  Oprah Winfrey (fired from first TV job for getting too emotionally involved in her 
stories).  Akio Morita (rice cooker business failed before starting Sony).  Solch
iro Honda (turned down 
for a job by Toyota before starting Honda).  Harland Sanders (chicken recipe rejecte
d 1,009 times before a 
restaurant accepted it).  Walt Disney (fired by a newspaper editor because he lacked imagination and had no 
good ideas).  Theodore Seuss Geisel or Dr. Seuss (first book rejected by 27 publishers).	
Learn How To Fail & Succeed (page 2 of 2)	
QUICK CHECK:
1.  a) What are engineering students required to 
pass?  b) What is the course called?
2.  a) Students arrive on campus without what 
skills?  b) In high school what may students 
have graduated without?  
3.  What will graduates find in their careers?
4.  a) In high school, what 2 things do teachers tell 
you about projects?  
  b) But, what may happen in the work world?
5.  a) List 3 things some colleges decided that it is 
their duty to teach students.  b) Do you think it 
is good for you to take steps towards "better" 
rather than try to leap to "perfect"?  c) Give a 
reason for your opinion.
6.  List 4 things required in the Design,Thinking, 
and Communication class.  
7.  Give 2 examples of assigned tasks.	
8. On what 7 things are students graded?
9.  What strategy help students learn: a) Empathy?  
b) Creativity? c) Teamwork?  d) Brainstorming?  
e) Risk-taking?  f) Humility?  g) Resiliency?
10.  a) Define "self-talk."  b) What do athletes know 
about positive self-talk?
11.  a) What is a habit?  b) When is it learned?  
  c) What is the way to break a habit?
  d) Give one example.
12.  When you wear a rubber band around your 
wrist to help break a habit, what 3 things do you 
do whenever you think a self-harmful thought?
13.  Give 2 examples of negative self-talk turned 
into positive self-talk.
14.  How did the these people fail before success:  
  a) Winfrey.  b) Honda.  c) Sanders.  d) Disney.
15.  a) Do you think it is important for you to learn 
how to fail?  b) Give a reason for your answer.