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Failure is almost success

The distance between failure and success

By AJSNZUAQPublished 2 years ago 5 min read
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In a TV show, Xie Jun, chief designer of Beidou-3, said: "Success is a little bit of failure, and failure is a little bit of success." In aerospace engineering, a small gap is enough to lead to a huge failure. He gave an example: "The time unit of the Beidou project is often calculated in nanoseconds, and 1 nanosecond is equal to 1 billionth of a second. Light can only travel 0.3 meters in 1 nanosecond in a vacuum. If the difference is 1 nanosecond every day, 300 Ten thousand years later, it will become 1 second." With human perception and understanding, 1 nanosecond is almost negligible and can be completely ignored. However, a 1-nanosecond signal beat on the satellite will affect the positioning gap on the ground by as much as 10 meters, which is really "a small difference, which is a 'billion' miles".

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Indeed, the distance between success and failure is often just "a little bit". Before Bell invented the telephone, many inventors, including Edison, Gray, and Reese, had been working on the telephone and were very close to success, but the final success came to Bell. The reason is very simple: Bell turned a knob a few more turns in the physics experiment, and it was these many turns that suddenly turned the intermittent current into a constant-amplitude current, and a great invention that rewritten world civilization was born. It can be seen that success is a continuous and gradual process, which must be closely linked and interlocked. If a small link is missing, success may be missed.

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History often repeats a truth: details determine success or failure, and success or failure depends on the slightest. During the missile launch test in the United States in 1970, because the operator screwed a nut on the missile body less than half a turn, the system malfunctioned and the launch failed; during the test launch of the "Ariane" rocket in 1980, the operator accidentally A logo on the rocket fell, blocking the nozzle of the combustion chamber, and the costly launch project was destroyed; in January 1986, the space shuttle "Challenger" suddenly exploded 1 minute and 12 seconds after liftoff , all seven astronauts were killed. The cause of the accident was that a gasket of the engine fuel tank was broken, causing fuel leakage and causing an explosion; in February 1990, the "Ariane" rocket was launched again, and the staff left a small piece of wiping cloth in the engine before the small cycle. In the system, the pipe was blocked and the explosion was repeated... A half-turn nut, a logo, a washer, a rag, what a trivial "little" to the huge missiles, rockets and space shuttles, but only Because of this "little" negligence and error, the entire launch project failed completely, resulting in a huge disaster of destroying the device and killing people. Think about it accordingly, if you were a little more careful at the time, and tightened the nut more than half a turn; a little careful, not touching the logo; a little careful, found the washer; a little careful, not leaving the rag... Then, missiles, rockets and The space shuttle successfully took to the sky! The gap between a shocking success and a tragic failure is "a little bit".

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From the point of view of systems theory, everything is interconnected and influenced by each other, and unexpected interactive evolution may occur anytime, anywhere. A butterfly flapping its wings a few times may set off a tornado in the distance; if a horseshoe is dropped from a thousand troops, the entire war may be lost. A little object and a little action may seem insignificant, but it occupies an irreplaceable position in the whole system and the whole project and plays a pivotal role. Sometimes even just a little negligence, error and omission can cause huge losses that are incalculable and irreparable. In many cases, it is that "little bit" that ultimately becomes the watershed between success and failure.

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From people's life experience, success and failure are accumulated little by little. Do a little more every day, and you will be a little closer to success; be lazy every day, and you will be a little farther from success. If you raise the standard a little bit every time you do something, you will be a little bit farther away from failure, otherwise you will be a little bit farther away from success; when you encounter difficulties, you will be a little bit closer to success, otherwise you will be a little bit closer to failure. In doing anything, success and failure are often almost the same at the beginning, and it is not easy to distinguish, but with a little increase or a little decrease, gradually the success and failure will become clear. Just like a long-distance race, at the beginning, everyone is chasing each other closely, but as time passes, the distance is opened up a little bit, and at the end, the gap is clear, and the winner or loser is immediately obvious.

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Napoleon Hill said: "There is only a small difference between people, but this small difference often makes a big difference. The small difference is whether the mentality is positive or negative, which is huge. The difference is success and failure." Therefore, no matter in study, work or in life, everyone should not despise or let such "a little bit", and should strive to be cautious, observant, and correct. Prudence means to be careful and meticulous in everything, and do not let details affect success or failure; to be careful is to be good at discovering all flaws and subtle mistakes, so as not to cause minor disasters to lead to catastrophe; Even if it is trivial, we must do our best to correct and remedy it, so as not to let small mistakes lead to big disasters. Only in this way can we reach the other side of success.

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