There's no success like failure?


Experienced dentists, almost by definition, have made many dental mistakes in their past. That may be why sometimes they are better able to avoid them now.   If they are estute they tend to see potential problems in advance and take evasive action before they cause unexpected negative outcomes.

I sometimes see this while teaching dental students. Prior to starting a dental procedure I go over any special circumstances I detect involving a patients tooth that may make a successful outcome less likely. At times, probably due to their relative inexperience, a student isn't completely aware of the problem or possibly doesn't have a viable strategy for dealing with it, so that a good outcome would be more likely. I am not criticizing them, since all dentists, even grizzled veterans like myself, have been there before. The point is that when you haven't experienced a particular problem, you may not be as likely to see it coming. This is exactly the point mentioned in a recent article in the World Street Journal "The truth about failing spectacularly"

I watch a lot of continuing education modules, many featuring super experienced Spear faculty, while attending study club meetings. It's great seeing their successfully completed cases, but some of the best learning happens when they relate information about some of their failures. After sharing a failure they related  how they have influenced their current treatment planning and how their experience has affected how they practice dentistry now. The truth is we really can learn from other people's mistakes and everyone, including those recognized as leaders in their fields, have made mistakes and we all can learn from them.

Ok, but, that being the case, the inexperienced aren't "doomed" to duplicate the very same mistakes as their elders and if they are good students, they can learn to avoid potential problem by accepting the cautions and advice of those who are more experienced. History doesn't have to repeat itself, especially if we are open to learning from others mistakes. Yes, our young are often not as afraid to tackle new challenges, possibly because they have experienced less failures, but a certain amount of risk is evident in everything a man or woman does and sometimes the risk, although not immediately apparent, can cause failure. In a teaching setting, the experience of a "senior" faculty can sometimes be invaluable, since they can help steer younger practitioners to achieve a greater degree of success and as Bob Dylan's song "Love minus zero/ No limit" informs us that his love "knows there's no success like  failure and  failure is no success at all!"

from Ask Dr. Spindel - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/2019/02/theres-no-success-like-failure.html - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/

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