Learning from Mistakes

No matter how hard we may try, we sometimes overlook something.  I just did that on one of my research papers.  By the time I realized it was due, it was too late to be turned in, and by that time I had a “zero” on it.  Ouch!  It took my overall grade in that class, one of my favorite classes by the way, to an “F”.  I’ve never had that happen in my life.  Anyway, I’ve been getting “A’s” on everything else, and I’m back up to a “C+” with two more items to be graded.  I think I can pull out a “B”… but man, I was bummed.

I think there is more to be learned here than just the material I overlooked on this one lesson.  Here are some of the things I’m doing now.

Measure Twice, Cut Once

This old carpenter’s rule applies here.  I’m double checking all of the instructions and trying to verify which was correct when there were differences. This particular class had a syllabus that differed from the website that sometimes differed from the email that the professor sent out.  It wasn’t much, but it through me off.  I took it for granted that they were all in synch… bad assumption.  Next time, I’ll verify the assignments at the beginning of each week.

Use Naming Conventions

I learned a long time ago the importance of using my own “naming conventions” when organizing work, email, etc.  This particular class made it difficult.  For some reason, the professor had me rename assignments because he couldn’t open them due to the file name being too long.  Sound like the old MSDOS days of eight letters and a file type (i.e. mydocum_.doc).   Having my naming convention compromised, I overlooked the assignment.  From now on, I’ll keep using my own naming convention in the class folder and then make a renamed copy of the work for the professor.  That way, my hard drive, backup files, and thinking processes are synchronized.

Keep Persevering

This is a seven week module.  This mistake on my part happened in the third week.  It would have been easy to get frustrated and give up, but then I would not have learned as much as I have.  This event has actually served as a major motivation for me in this class.  I’ve been plodding along since then and have gotten perfect scores on everything that I’ve turned in since that fateful day in module three.  As I said, I think I can still pull out a “B” in this class.   I used  to be a perfectionist.  Now, my goal is to be as efficient as possible and learn as much as I can in the time I have dedicated to this part of my life.  This is what productivity is all about for me.  I’m happy with how it has turned out… my stress level is under control and I’m still in learning mode.

So with that said, I need to get back to my last paper.  If all goes well, that “F” will be back up to a “B”. 

Update:   The professor was gracious and with partial points I was able to get a “B+.”  I’ll take it!!!

Question:  What are some important lessons you’ve learned from mistakes?

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