Seek to Misconstrue + a
Failure: The Blog 
August 2018
- When This Executive Was Fired, He Took Charge
- Obeying The Speed Limit Has Never Been More Fun
- London Black Cabs Helped Uber Grow
- Bette Graham Created A Product To Fix Her Mistakes
- Flamin' Hot Cheetos Had An Interesting Start
July 2018
- Fear This Instead Of Failure
- Re-Releasing Songs Created Success
- A CEO's Purposeful Mistake
- The Tardy Student And The Unsolvable Problem
- Fixing Potholes Through Graffiti
June 2018
- A Surprising Mistake In The Oxford English Dictionary
- US Army Embraces Mistakes
- Blocking A Hymn
- Eddie Shore Was Truly A Tough Guy
- [Video] Elon Musk Didn't "Pivot" He Failed
May 2018
- 8 Examples of Mental Toughness Part 2
- Necessity Turned Accessory: Allen Iverson's Sleeve
- This Doctor Has Continued To Fail
- 8 Examples of Mental Toughness
- MIT Accidentally Creates New Smelting Process
April 2018
- Johnny Cash Quit Singing Lessons
- Cruise Control Came Out of Frustration
- Time Spent Gaming Pays Off In The Navy
- Rock Around The Clock Was a Commercial Failure
- Sigmund Freud Should Have Been Discouraged
March 2018
Unfinished, But Inhabited
If you invest millions of dollars into a skyscraper, you intend to finish it. But what happens when the money runs out and people still need places to live and work?
In Caracas, Venezuela, there are enormous buildings that remain incomplete for ages. But instead of locking them down or destroying the structures, people turn them into makeshift homes.
Photo © ttolk.ru
In an article in Foreign Policy, journalist Peter Wilson tells about people who live in what would have been a parking garage beneath a mall:
Her living space measures 12 feet by 12 feet and has jury-rigged electrical outlets. She and her family share a large bathroom with hundreds of other refugees on each floor; there is no hot water. Residents hang their clothing along the rails, while Bolivarian National Guard units watch over the entrance, restricting access.
“The government provides us everything we need,” Navarro says. “They deliver three meals a day to our cubicle, and they provided beds and furniture when we moved in. My children attend school here, and one of my neighbors even gave birth in a clinic on the parking deck.” She sighs and looks around. “I can’t complain but it’s not home. It just doesn’t seem like home.”
Why would a superstructure become an emergency shelter? Economics, and pragmatism. In many places in the city and beyond, the government was forced to seized property to provide a roof for approximately eight million citizens.
The situation in Venezuela may be improving, but it’s hard to tell. But most experts agree that dramatic change is necessary. Repurposing skyscrapers may sound like a crazy idea, but it could become part of a strategy that works.
Failure is the secret to success. We sometimes need to admit defeat and try a totally new approach. We sometimes need to tear down what we’ve built or use it in a totally new way. In Caracas, hundreds of thousands of temporary housing units are crucial. They may come from failure, but they help keep many safe and protected.
