Lesson: Things Go Wrong

One of the big lessons I've learned in 2011 is that things don't always quite work the way they should.  It doesn't seem to matter what it is.  It just... doesn't go the way that it is supposed to.  Or things go wrong.  Something comes up.  Unexpectedly.  However, I've learned that in those situations, the situations that seem to just utterly suck, are often times when you learn the most.

Example - Work

I shifted projects at work back in the middle of August.  I turned into an RSE (Responsible Systems Engineer).  As such, I am responsible (duh) for a handful of units.  Each of these units have different capabilities.  I oversee them and make sure that they work and that they meet all their requirements.  Etc etc.  Anyways, I transitioned during a time that perhaps was not the most ideal.  Things were ramping up quick and units needed to be delivered.  Long story short, I had to execute on a lot of tasks but I didn't really know how to do any of it.  Fortunately, my predecessor left behind a lot of templates and good documentation.  Much of the ground work was put into place.  When things were going well and all the units worked, I knew how to operate.  However, this soon would all change.  Units started not testing properly.  Issues arose.  Things were breaking.  My thought that "well... if the unit is designed well and things are already in production, it should work the way it's supposed to" became a thing of the past.  But due to the complexity of the units and all the details that needed to be considered, it was common for deviations to occur.  In fact, it was well known by others that things just never seem to quite work the way it is supposed to.  But because I was super n00b on the project, I didn't know that yet.  Anyways, once things started not working, I really needed to learn how all the units worked and how to do things that weren't just simply following a template that was put in place before my time.  With things not going as expected, I needed to think much more and put in a lot more time than I did before.  But now I was actually learning!  When everything went as scheduled, it was very step through the motions.  Once things didn't go as planned, I entered into debugging mode.  This allowed me to work very closely with the software team and the hardware team. And while it was somewhat painful to have to spin up on understanding all the different aspects of the unit, I strongly believe that it was through these moments that I gained experience that I would not have been able to otherwise.  So even though it kind of sucks to have to go through these hardships (more work involved, often times feel like I don't know anything so it is discouraging, etc, I know that there is benefit in the long run.  Perhaps a parallel in our spiritual lives? Yes, I sure think so.  I too believe that in the struggles and in the unexpected, God teaches us lessons that draw us closer to Him that we would have otherwise never experienced.  I think also to a degree it teaches us that the things we often think we have control over, we really don't.  Ugh, such a hard lesson for me to learn.  Perhaps there will be another entry on that another day.

Lesson action item: I will try and not grumble when things don't always work out and try my best to view it as an opportunity for growth.  In doing this, I will also remind myself that these situations often lead to new and valuable lessons.