Failure
I’d like to tell you the secret to my success.
I’ll admit it. A do a pretty good job at the whole paramedic thing. It took a long time to get where
I am, but it was worth it. I know my way around most medical situations and I’m comfortable enough in my shoes to have a good time doing it.
Do you want to know the secret to my success? Do you want the inside track on how to get good at EMS. I’m willing to share.
I got good at this job by failing.
That might not be what you were expecting to hear. You might have been thinking that I was going to say I studied hard or that I practiced relentlessly. Maybe you figured I had natural gifts that helped me along the way or perhaps you imagine I tested well in grade school. Some of that’s true.
I tend to do OK with the book stuff and I did need to practice and study to pass all the relevant exams. I’ve always been naturally good with people. But I don’t think any of those things really put me on the road to being a talented paramedic. To do that, I needed to mess up. Sometimes, I needed to mess up royally. If I’m better at this stuff than you are, I’ll make a bet that it’s probably because I’ve made a bunch more mistakes than you have.
I’m guessing that I probably needed to fail more often than the average person to reach my current level of competence. I have this tendency to sometimes need to make the same mistake multiple times before I finally figure out I need to do something different. It’s one of my more endearing qualities.
Somewhere along the way, I grew comfortable with the idea of failure. That’s when things really took off. Once I became OK with the idea of taking the mulligan I became more willing to push my boundaries. When I can’t figure out what’s going on with a patient I seek out advice from doctors, nurses and coworkers. I don’t run and hide from my weakness. I put it out there for everyone to see.
It’s liberating to be fearless about the flawed nature of your existence. There’s a certain freedom that comes from knowing that you’re going to mess some stuff up. You’re going to blow it sometimes. And that’s OK.
So you want to get better at what you do? Try messing up more. Increase your rate of mistakes and you’ll increase your rate of growth astronomically. See what happens when you let go of the idea that you’re supposed to perform your work flawlessly. Tell me how it goes.
Now it’s your turn: Does the fear of failure rule you? How comfortable are you with the idea of making mistakes. How open are you about the errors you make right now?
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I totally agree. When we first went to EPCR my training officer started telling us every month how our success rates were on everything. This imagined competition put subconscious pressure to be perfect on me and my IV success rate went from extremely good to couldn’t start an IV to save my life real quick. It took a long time for me to overcome that block and become proficient starting lines again. The fear of failure really does make it a lot harder to improve.
Steve, a recent post of yours changed my whole outlook regarding mistakes. All of the books on the development of Expertise I’ve read didn’t teach me one very important thing. Mistakes are routine. Thank you for making my life a lot easier.
Here are two of my latest near failures, near b/c nothing bad happened/lesson still learned though, don’t walk my eupneic pt who is either a male four days post abdominal surgery with C/C-abd pain and is tachy while seated at rest or the diabetic female with C/C-diffuse abd pain w/out taking a pressure. Thankfully neither crumped as I stood them, whats worse I should know not to do this. Twice done, now hopefully not to be repeated.
I definitely learn through my failures and mistakes, good post.
As the saying goes: “If we learn from our mistakes, then I must have had a fantastic education”. There’s several important lessons I learned as a nurse through making mistakes. Steve, I don’t consider seeking help or advice a sign of failure or weakness. I worry far more about those who won’t or don’t ask for help.
On my instructors course I was informed by one of the faculty that “there are no such things as “mistakes” here, they are oppotunites to learn”
Yesterday I had a patient who I was fairly certain was having a gall bladder attack. I knew all the symptoms but couldn’t remember where the gall bladder was.
I knew at one time, I’m sure I did.
I asked the triage nurse where it was. This is the same woman who has seen me bring more Level 1 trauma’s and medical emergencies than you could shake a stick at, and never break a sweat.
She didn’t judge, just told me.
Never too old to re-learn a new trick, i guess!
AWESOME POST! Not only does the fear of failure hinder our performance, it also prevents us from learning valuable lessons. I am a new medic and am quickly learning that EVERY patient is my teacher in some way or another. I will keep this post in mind next shift. Thanks Steve!
Wow this is exactly what I needed right now. I’ve been given more responsibility on the rigs lately and I feel like I’ve been fvcking it all up with mistake after mistake. I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one.
It’s hard to work hard after something and then fall flat on your face when you try to apply it. I do see myself improving though, so maybe my failure regimen will eventually get me where I want to be. Thanks for the honest down to earth post.
I’m in my first year of paramedic school in Toronto. I’ll remember this post when I do my end of year practical testing (OSCEs) this week. It’s okay to make mistakes – just not too many come exam time. And I’ll remember to check expiry dates before I draw up meds.
This is so true. I just finished my hospital practicum, and for every skill that I would perform only so-so (thinking real hard about the how I wanted to look good for my preceptors), I learned just a little bit…but for everything I screwed up real good, I learned a whole lot!
Note to self: remember to ask if they took ED drugs…
As a lay person, sometimes I get queazy when medical people start admitting they’re human. But you gotta do what you gotta do I suppose. Nice post. : )