To Err Is Wrong, By Roger Von Oech

In today’s society, people have been striving hard so as to meet the challenges in their daily lives. While doing so, some people are successful while some fail miserably in life. Most people relate failure with shame and embarrassment in life. It is without a doubt everyone desire for success. Men are bound to face challenges and obstacles in life and not all succeed in achieving their goals. There are so many great articles written about failure and how one should embrace it as it helps individuals grow into a successful person. Most of the articles, if not all, have the same conclusion that failure is never a bad thing. We have all failed not once, not twice but many times throughout our life. Failure is not limited to academic or career

Failures can kill the dreams one might have, can make one lose their hopes and disregard all the efforts made prior to failing. People have been accustomed to the idea that failure is bad in and of itself. In the article, “To Err is Wrong” by Roger von Oech, he mentions how most people consider success and failure as total opposites and claims that they are actually both products of the same process (Oech 2). Since from young ages, people are taught in schools about how correct answers are fantastic while the wrong answers are unacceptable. This set of ideas brainwashes people into avoiding any potential mistakes at all costs possible. This type of belief is very common in educational institutions such as high schools, colleges and universities where students earn their grades based on how many correct answers they make or how little they make mistakes during examinations. Although it cannot be denied that having such an incentive system is necessary, it can also backfire the original intention which is to educate the students with skills and knowledge required. Students who have never failed in their classes might not be comfortable with potential failures in the future and hence, are reluctant to try out any risky moves in their lives. In his article, van Oech talks about a friend of his who had not found a job after graduation. As talented and accomplished as she was in her college days according to van Oech, she had difficulties getting a job since she is not brave enough to face failures in her job interviews (Oech 5). Therefore, it is important that we are familiar with failures in life so that we can challenge ourselves, take risks and find the way to