Ask Adam Savage: Coping With (and Learning From) Failure

How has Adam dealt with failures -- or just things that just didn't go the way he'd hoped -- in his shop and his career? In this excerpt from our April 20 live stream, Adam answers questions from Tested members Daniel Monteith, K. Morton, SP Productions and Nate Jones relating to failure. Join this channel to support Tested and get access to perks, such as asking Adam a question:

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[danielbmonteith]

"There is no amount of expertise that will allow you to avoid failing."
Love to have that on a sign or tshirt!

[tomhorsley]

As a computer programmer, I can definitely say that nothing is more terrifying than having code work the first time. You feel like the universe is planning some terrible punishment to even things out :-).

[PhysicsDude]

I work in the construction industry, which is typically a very toxic work environment. I'm usually a very good employee, but do make mistakes. Whenever I make a mistake I own it right away like Adam is talking about. Often the person repremanding me (boss, customer, general contractor, etc.) will ask me "why did you do that?" and I'll usually say something like "I have made many mistakes in life, and this was one of them" or "I am a flawed human being, and I just made a judgement error". Its funny because they never expect that type of upfront admission; most people will try to justify their poor decisions. Once you own it, it just kind of shuts down the conversation, and the other person always calms down and just accepts that it happened, instead of a screaming match over who won't admit their fault.

Really important life lesson.

[johnmac]

when i was an Apprentice the machine shop foreman said ' you will screw things up, that's fine as long as you admit it & learn from your screw up ' .. 30 years later thats still how i live life

[Ziz]

"The problem with doing it right the first time is that no one appreciates how difficult it was."

- unknown

[_lithp]

Your story about how you let your friend down as an art director on one of his films/stage productions helped me through some of my past failures. Just knowing you fucked up so bad you lost a friend (and still managed to be a success) soothes my anxiety whenever I think about them.

[redsparks]

"An expert is a person who has found out by his own painful experience all the mistakes that one can make in a very narrow field." ~ Niels Bohr

[chirho]

I have been struggling at work recently, feeling as though I don't belong or am not good enough. Adam, and tested crew, thank you for this video! I really needed to hear this today!

[biancagravett]

Thank you for this video. My husband is a model maker and I feel like I understand his frustration and his tendency to take failure so personally, a hell of alot better now.

[paulbrooks]

Failure isn’t a state, but an event. What is most important is being able to accept that it happened, understand what caused the mistake without self judgment, and remember the lesson so that next time isn’t like the last time.

[sschmidtevalue]

I was a software engineer for 30 years. I got used to being wrong about something nearly every day -- up to the day I retired. By that point, it was mostly new or minor stuff. But I kept learning. And I still dabble in it for my own purposes, but not nearly as much. And I'm still making mistakes and learning from it.

[aml]

This video will be shown to my 16 yo son. YES OWN YOUR MISTAKES! -- It's so much easier to move forward thereafter! Adam you are loved! Thank you!

[paulhad]

"Sharing the highs and the lows" that's why I watch your videos your so open about things it's great to not only watch but listen to as well, true inspiration "thank you"

[fifty]

"I learned the most from the people who were honest with me about their failures" THAAAT gives me some great perspective on why I learn more from my mom than from my dad - when the ability to discuss past mistakes is not present, there's this sort of performance anxiety around someone who's supposed to /support/ you, not /judge/ you; since they've created a false narrative where mistakes have not happened to them. It doesn't feel like a relationship of equals. I don't feel comfortable if there's not that off-hand "oh yeah, this part is hard, I had to study for ages to get it" stress de-escalation.

[adamragz]

Adam, I don't know how often or if you read the comments here, but I just want to say thank you. My son (adopted in February) and I watched this video yesterday after a difficult day of remote learning. I saw the title and thought it might be helpful for him as he struggles with failures, staying organized and owning mistakes. When you were talking about your dust up with your son and told him to listen and repeat your mantra of "My bad, I'm sorry, I screwed up" I think that might have stuck with my son. He wrote it down and thought about it a bit. Here's hoping your words inspired him...thanks again!

[robertpeacock]

A motto and forum tag line I have is "The difference between being smart and being wise. Being smart is learning from your mistakes. Being wise is learning from the mistakes of others. My life has given many others the chance to be wise."

[cavlo]

I’m not a maker but I watch every video with Adam. Such amazing perspectives and lessons I end up using in my daily life as a 20yr old student of life! I can’t thank you enough for these videos!!

[Lillfot]

In my work life, I live by the ideology of owning your mistakes immediately and completely. It baffles a lot of people but I can always learn and move forward with more confidence immediately. It's important but not many (any) people understand it.

[hawkbox]

I've been doing System Administration for 15+ years and the understanding is that anyone who hasn't caused a major foul up is either lying or so junior they've never touched anything important. Especially in IT there are random variables you can't account for no matter how hard you try and how you handle running into one of them is what defines you in your job.