The Kobayashi Maru and the Value of Failure

Many years ago, a former colleague of mine was up for a promotion in IT support. Part of the interview process included a timed practical assessment where candidates were asked to repair a computer with several functional issues not related to its hardware. After some basic troubleshooting, she decided the only way to complete the task in the allotted time was to re-image the machine.

The test was meant to be impossible in the allotted time; it was supposed to show that the candidate could keep calm under pressure and knew how to assess the situation by running though all the possible fixes from the most common to the least common. The proctors had to suspend assessments while the fixed computer was broken again. My colleague got the promotion.

She told me this story, and I said, "So you Kobayashi Maru'd the assessment." When she looked at me quizzically, I knew she wasn't a Trekkie, so I explained the story. If you're not a fan of Star Trek or unfamiliar with the story, here's a brief clip from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan where the Starfleet Academy simulation is mentioned, and in which arguably is found the origin of the use of Kobayashi Maru as a verb:

"I don't like to lose." Who does? In pop culture, to Kobayashi Maru a situation is a badge of honor. It shows you're clever and creative, and it's definitely something worth bragging about. But, I'd argue that facing a Kobayashi Maru and losing is equally (if not more) laudable, and to understand that, you have to understand the scenario.

Every cadet at Starfleet Academy is put through this simulation in which the cadet, acting as the ship's captain, receives a distress call from a civilian starship called the Kobayashi Maru. The ship is stranded in the Klingon Neutral Zone with its life support failing. A treaty prevents Federation starships from entering the Neutral Zone, but custom and ethics dictate that a ship receiving a distress call must offer whatever assistance it can.

The cadet must decide whether to violate the treaty and try to rescue the survivors of the Kobayashi Maru, or to respect the treaty and abandon the survivors to certain death. This is a scenario where lives are valued over politics, so the only way a cadet truly can fail the simulation is by not trying to rescue the survivors.

Upon entering the Neutral Zone, the cadet finds several Klingon Birds-of-Prey suddenly uncloaked and ready to attack. The objectives of this mission within this simulation are to rescue the survivors, to avoid being annihilated by the Klingons, and to exit the Neutral Zone safely. Every cadet fails except for James T. Kirk.

The real lesson of the Kobayashi Maru is not to win but to reveal yourself in losing. As with losing in life, those revelations are an assessment that shows your strengths and weaknesses. Knowing where you're deficient is a gift to your future self—an opportunity to learn from your mistakes and improve. For the Starfleet Academy cadet, it's a test of compassion, courage and calm in the face of certain death, and creativity in approaching an impossible situation.

For the rest of us, not only can losing a no-win scenario teach us valuable lessons, but it can also build the resilience, perseverance, and tenacity that set us up for success. What's more, we can share our experiences with others so they, too, can learn from our mistakes. We can be champions of neuroplasticity, preaching the gospel of adaptability and embracing change.

I recently found myself in one such situation. Having failed, I hope to do a proper post mortem and share with you all I've learned about myself and my experience, so that you may have the benefit of my hindsight, but this is lesson one: Failure is a beginning to your next adventure.