Abort Mission

If the path you tread becomes perilous, at what point should you change course?

A recent podcast (maybe freakonomics? I don't remember) was discussing the inherent resistance that many people have to turning back -- declaring failure. I guess it's particularly bad in America, where our national mythology, and therefore our identity, is largely built around the underdog story; the gritty, unlikely hero who triumphs despite terrible odds. Succeeding at "mission impossible." It's the truest American dream to pull yourself up and work yourself to the bone, to finally rise above your own misfortune.

This story doesn't always play well. The example case used in the podcast was that of the challenger space shuttle, that horrible tragedy that shocked much of America back when I was in grade school. Apparently, the person responsible for signing off on the launch that day refused to do so, on account of the extremely low temperatures which he believed to be a danger to the equipment. Of course, NASA went ahead with the launch, marching forward with imprudent determination born from past successes and an unwillingness to choose anything but the course that had been set.

I, too, suffer from this common, and stereotypically masculine problem; getting wrapped up in "the mission," perceiving the unflinching ability to overcome challenges as they arise, as a universal virtue. My wife often chides me for refusing to stop for comforts, even a bathroom, when on a family drive. It is tough for me to change course. I put on optimism glasses whenever I set my sights on something, and regard problems as more trivial than they are. This serves me, as it does for many of us, in that it prevents the worst course of action when confronted by a problem: doing nothing. The deer in headlights.

But there is a better way; a middle road. How about spending time at the beginning, staring down failure, getting comfortable with it, recognizing what kinds of obstacles are deal breakers, and which might be resolved with relative ease.

The best choice is often difficult: making an informed choice, and attaching no stigma or ill regard to a decision to call off the mission, or even to simply change it, should such a choice prove pertinent. Let's call that celebrating a good failure. This is something I've tried to preach as a teacher, even though I've never been so good at it myself, at least under some circumstances.

Now I'd like to turn this insight toward humanity, collectively. We are suffering from a generalized obsession with forward progress despite the obvious evidence that it might not be going very well. We are resting, artificially assured, that the plan in place is the right plan, as we watch our planet slowly slip into disaster. Our food supplies are spoiled by toxic farming practices, our climate is becoming increasingly hostile, and our global culture is accelerating toward unprecedented disparity and unrest.

At the same time, there is much hope, as always. We are connected to one another more than ever. Global empathy is on a steep rise, as rights are being extended to new corners of the human experience. Honesty is on the rise as well -- acceptance of others always reflects acceptance of equal parts of ourselves.

I’d say, looking objectively at our current situation, that it is a good time to change course. For a person considering the capitalist experiment as it began in full form around the time of the French Revolution,   trying to predict likely mechanisms of failure for capitalism, over-consumption, waste, excessive focus on the short term, the tragedy of the commons, and otherwise general environmental disasters would likely have been on the list. Also corruption, poverty, desperation and despotism. It’s not likely that someone could have predicted the food and medical industries encouraging most people in many “developed” countries to become needlessly sick. Many of these other predictions have been made, many times.

No matter. It’s really all water under the bridge, so long as we figure out how to right our course. Survey a bunch of kindergarteners, and they’ll tell you:

“You should bring food to the people who don’t have food!”

“Everyone should live in a comfortable home”

“People should not get sick”

“We should make spaceships to find aliens”

Ok, that last one was actually me. The other ones came from my own 6 year old.