Search for The WHY: Errors of Omission vs. Commission (Pt. 1)

Jun 10

At my college graduation, Dan Rather spoke to us Temple U graduates and told us we’d probably only remember two stories from this speech.

He was right.

That was until I started writing this article and realized I forgot one of the two stories that stuck with me for about a decade. Naturally, over time, we tend to remember a few select things from our past experiences.

So it’s no surprise that from all the college lectures in my Advertising Account Management class ( bleh ), I only hung onto one of them.

This particular lecture was specific to making a decision on behalf of an advertising client:

The Question: If an opportunity arises and it requires swift action, but the client isn’t responding, what should you do?

The Answer: You do that shit.

Pull the trigger, hombre!

Reason being, an error of commission (doing something) is always more respectable and APPRECIATED than an error of omission (doing nothing).

The professor’s answer was much more philosophical than he realized. Or maybe he did realize? Idk. Shout out Len Kornblau (spelling could be off).

If you’re searching for reasons not to do something, you will find them.

No question about it.

But what will you learn? How will you grow from that?

Even if you made the right decision to not pursue or do whatever in this world is being put in front of you… at best, you learned that patience is a virtue. Congratulations. Worst case, you missed out on an opportunity you might get back. If you acted and it didn’t go as planned, there’s a lesson to be learned, something to grow from.

So do that shit.
Fail.

Fuck up.

Cause a ruckus.

Bring the pain, hardcore to the brain.

So long as you learn from it.

Besides, no one looks back and goes “I’m glad I didn’t try.”

Part 2 is the frustrating real-life inspiration behind this timely article.