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Celebrating Failure

1) Working at Publix is very rewarding for me but is not without its challenges that have to be overcome. Recently, I was promoted into a position with a lot more responsibility, one where I handle more cash transactions and am often in a position where I count all of the money at the end of the night, close out the night, and make the cash deposits. I had a very difficult night where the computer software that we use to input all of the numbers for the day shut down. I had to call our tech support help line and ended up not being able to clock out and leave work until an hour after I was scheduled to leave. This night was very difficult for a lot of reasons but the biggest challenge for me was that because of the technology failure, I, in turn, was not able to complete the night correctly and it ended up looking as though I lost money over the course of the evening as well as did not input the numbers correctly in the computer. The next day, I was able to work with one of my managers and our tech support help line to correct the issues from the night before as well as learn how to go about fixing them if something like this were to happen again. 
2) Throughout this process I was able to learn a lot about how to handle failure in my work. I was very stressed and I did not want to be seen as someone who did not know how to do their job based on computer issues. This suck with me for a while even after the issues from that night were fixed and I think that I learned that it is okay to fail like that sometimes. I was able to learn how to fix the mistakes that I did make as well as learn what to do if a technical error like that happens again. My managers were very understanding and while they were frustrated with the situation, it was helpful to know that they did not blame me for what happened. 
3) I think that failure is necessary. Even though it is very difficult sometimes and can make you seem foolish or like you do not deserve to be in a position that you are in, failure is almost always a learning experience. I think that I am more able to handle failure now that I have seen what happens a few times and I know that it is usually something that you can use to learn and grow from for the future. I think while I have learned that failure is not all bad, I am still a cautious person by nature and I do not think that my view on failure has changed enough that I will take more or bigger risks than I would have before. 

Comments

  1. Andrew BlardonisApril 18, 2020 at 6:07 PM

    Hi, Riley, I found your Publix story to be both very interesting and inspirational. I have encountered many similar working experiences, and I had to be calm in such a stressful time. Likewise, I totally agree with your view that failure is a necessary part of life. We learn so many lessons from failure, as well as gaining new motivations to succeed.

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