44:
187:
activity would consider it to be an outcome failure if the core issue has not been resolved or a core need is not met. A process failure occurs, by contrast, when, although the activity is completed successfully, the customer still perceives the way in which the activity is conducted to be below an expected standard or benchmark.
353:
explains that a great deal can be learned from things going wrong unexpectedly, and that part of science's success comes from keeping blunders "small, manageable, constant, and trackable". He uses the example of engineers and programmers who push systems to their limits, breaking them to learn about
186:
researchers have distinguished between outcome and process failures. An outcome failure is a failure to obtain a good or service at all; a process failure is a failure to receive the good or service in an appropriate or preferable way. Thus, a person who is only interested in the final outcome of an
190:
Wan and Chan note that outcome and process failures are associated with different kinds of detrimental effects to the consumer. They observe that "n outcome failure involves a loss of economic resources (i.e., money, time) and a process failure involves a loss of social resources (i.e., social
140:
Most of the items listed below had high expectations, significant financial investments, and/or widespread publicity, but fell far short of success. Due to the subjective nature of "success" and "meeting expectations", there can be disagreement about what constitutes a "major flop".
81:. Similarly, the degree of success or failure in a situation may be differently viewed by distinct observers or participants, such that a situation that one considers to be a failure, another might consider to be a success, a qualified success or a neutral situation.
292:, but is not intentional. Accordingly, Smith suggests, we ought to understand failure as involving a situation in which it is reasonable to expect a person to do something, but they do not do it—regardless of whether they intend to do it or not.
608:, p. 17: This 'American sense' looked upon failure as 'a moral sieve' that trapped the loafer and passed the true man through. Such ideologies fixed blame squarely on individual faults, not extenuating circumstances …
73:. The criteria for failure depends on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. One person might consider a failure what another person considers a success, particularly in cases of direct
84:
It may also be difficult or impossible to ascertain whether a situation meets criteria for failure or success due to ambiguous or ill-defined definition of those criteria. Finding useful and effective criteria or
358:). Failure can also be used productively, for instance to find identify ambiguous cases that warrant further interpretation. When studying biases in machine learning, for instance, failure can be seen as a "
354:
them. Kelly also warns against creating a culture that punishes failure harshly, because this inhibits a creative process, and risks teaching people not to communicate important failures with others (e.g.,
277:
Both actions and omissions may be morally significant. The classic example of a morally significant omission is one's failure to rescue someone in dire need of assistance. It may seem that one is morally
325:. Alternatively, experiments can be regarded as failures when they do not provide helpful information about nature. However, the standards of what constitutes failure are not clear-cut. For example, the
244:
grade for failing (and adjusting the ranges corresponding to the other letters). The practice of letter grades spread more broadly in the first decades of the 20th century. By the 1930s, the letter
1140:
205:
A failing grade is a mark or grade given to a student to indicate that they did not pass an assignment or a class. Grades may be given as numbers, letters or other symbols.
718:
101:
argues that the concept of failure underwent a metamorphosis in the United States over the course of the 19th century. Initially, Sandage notes, financial failure, or
146:
288:
notes that there are two ways one can not do something: consciously or unconsciously. A conscious omission is intentional, whereas an unconscious omission may be
672:
Smith, Amy K.; Bolton, Ruth N.; Wagner, Janet (August 1999). "A Model of
Customer Satisfaction with Service Encounters Involving Failure and Recovery".
1130:
444:
to indicate contempt or displeasure, and the image that formerly accompanied the message that the site was overloaded is referred to as the "
216:
scale and then summarizing those numerical grades by assigning letter grades to numerical ranges. Mount
Holyoke assigned letter grades
1173:
299:". In other words, a failure to act becomes morally significant when a norm demands that some action be taken, and it is not taken.
274:, omissions are distinguished from acts: acts involve an agent doing something; omissions involve an agent's not doing something.
935:"Algorithmic failure as a humanities methodology: Machine learning's mispredictions identify rich cases for qualitative analysis"
580:
1276:
891:
864:
656:
629:
1229:
1363:
312:
329:
became the "most famous failed experiment in history" because it did not detect the motion of the Earth through the
295:
Randolph Clarke, commenting on Smith's work, suggests that "hat makes failure to act an omission is the applicable
20:
907:
326:
619:
321:
Scientific hypotheses can be said to fail when they lead to predictions that do not match the results found in
308:
105:, was understood as an event in a person's life: an occurrence, not a character trait. The notion of a person
1206:
674:
436:, launched in January 2008, featured photos and videos captioned with "fail" and its variations. The #fail
338:
1385:
333:
as had been expected. This failure to confirm the presence of the aether would later provide support for
719:"Failure is Not Fatal: Actionable Insights on Service Failure and Recovery for the Hospitality Industry"
1355:
1380:
43:
1414:
1268:
35:
856:
848:
535:
24:
1046:"Digital failure: Unbecoming the "good" data subject through entropic, fugitive, and queer data"
416:
expressed derision and ridicule for mistakes deemed "eminently mockable". According to linguist
1296:
881:
316:
209:
31:
1294:
Smith, Patricia G. (1990). "Contemplating
Failure: The Importance of Unconscious Omission".
1163:
993:
458:
350:
200:
125:
connotations. By the late 19th century, to be a failure was to have a deficient character.
8:
330:
267:
257:
1329:
1321:
1135:
1075:
1026:
974:
782:
749:
699:
541:
529:
506:
237:
134:
110:
109:
a failure, Sandage argues, is a relative historical novelty: "ot until the eve of the
1359:
1333:
1313:
1282:
1272:
1079:
1067:
1030:
1018:
978:
966:
887:
860:
787:
769:
730:
703:
691:
652:
625:
544: – Ability of a structure to support a designed structural load without breaking
464:
371:
296:
285:
572:
491: – Process of collecting and analyzing data to determine the cause of a failure
270:
tradition have suggested that failure is connected to the notion of an omission. In
1409:
1305:
1201:
1057:
1008:
956:
946:
852:
777:
761:
683:
523:
488:
344:
172:
171:, with the initial lack of commercial success even lending a cachet of subcultural
19:
This article is about the social concept. For structural and systems failures, see
1262:
1094:
842:
646:
550:
517:
334:
161:
156:
89:
to judge the success or failure of a situation may itself be a significant task.
1347:
765:
687:
511:
383:
375:
261:
168:
152:
1013:
951:
934:
520: – Adage typically stated as: "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong"
1403:
1317:
1286:
1258:
1071:
1062:
1045:
1022:
970:
773:
734:
695:
403:
379:
122:
98:
78:
1168:
994:"The Thick Machine: Anthropological AI between explanation and explication"
791:
500:
494:
422:
399:
355:
553: – Unanticipated interaction of multiple failures in a complex system
961:
430:
message was translated into
English as "You fail it". The comedy website
279:
74:
1376:
1325:
1309:
1126:
1099:
911:
445:
417:
362:
where pre-existing biases and structural flaws make themselves known".
322:
289:
240:
by 1890. In 1898, Mount
Holyoke adjusted the grading system, adding an
213:
114:
102:
1092:
482:
432:
427:
183:
86:
1393:
992:
Munk, Anders
Kristian; Olesen, Asger Gehrt; Jacomy, Mathieu (2022).
503: – Frequency with which an engineered system or component fails
1354:. New York: Basic Books, 1983. Paperback reprint, Princeton, N.J.:
1196:
470:
228:
indicating lower than 75% performance and designating failure. The
121:". Accordingly, the notion of failure acquired both moralistic and
461: – Sudden and total failure from which recovery is impossible
441:
437:
70:
271:
56:
621:
Cult Film as a Guide to Life: Fandom, Adaptation, and
Identity
476:
473: – Event resulting in major damage, destruction or death
65:
is the social concept of not meeting a desirable or intended
52:
538: – A part whose failure will disrupt the entire system
66:
1093:
Mikkelson, Barbara; Mikkelson, David P. (13 August 2007).
48:
47:"Failing is not a crime but lack of effort is" – sign on
822:
147:
list of commercial failures in computer and video gaming
137:
or company that does not reach expectations of success.
546:
Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
532: – Form of workplace bullying and no-win situation
212:
was evaluating students' performance on a 100-point or
389:
382:
for the term to turn up the White House biography of
1352:
Normal
Accidents: Living with High-Risk Technologies
810:
599:
587:
573:"Failure - Definition of failure by Merriam-Webster"
1230:"Joy in the failure of others has gone competitive"
798:
645:Mathijs, Ernest; Sexton, Jamie (22 November 2019).
844:Omissions: Agency, Metaphysics, and Responsibility
248:was dropped from the system, for unclear reasons.
671:
374:" was popularized as a result of a widely known "
1401:
991:
750:"Teaching More by Grading Less (or Differently)"
747:
497: – Specific way in which a failure occurs
151:For company failures related to the 1997–2001
880:Blum, Edward K.; Lototsky, Sergey V. (2006).
644:
167:Sometimes, commercial failures can receive a
1264:Born Losers: A History of Failure in America
879:
748:Schinske, Jeffrey; Tanner, Kimberly (2014).
420:, the most probable origin of this usage is
145:For flops in computer and video gaming, see
1121:
1119:
1117:
69:, and is usually viewed as the opposite of
30:"Fail" redirects here. For other uses, see
16:Not meeting a desired or intended objective
1381:"How Fail Went From Verb to Interjection"
1161:
1131:"How Fail Went From Verb to Interjection"
1061:
1012:
960:
950:
908:"THE WORLD QUESTION CENTER 2011 — Page 6"
857:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199347520.001.0001
781:
514: – Concept in public goods economics
1114:
932:
717:Wan, Lisa; Chan, Elisa (20 March 2019).
42:
1257:
1155:
1043:
716:
605:
593:
1402:
1375:
1125:
1086:
883:Mathematics of Physics and Engineering
840:
648:The Routledge Companion to Cult Cinema
617:
479: – Incorrect or inaccurate action
282:for failing to rescue in such a case.
1293:
1227:
1195:Beam, Christopher (15 October 2008).
828:
816:
804:
1394:Association for the Study of Failure
1194:
1176:from the original on 4 December 2013
426:(1998), a Japanese video game whose
1209:from the original on 25 August 2009
1162:Schofield, Jack (17 October 2008).
1095:"Someone Set Us Up The Google Bomb"
526: – 1984 book by Charles Perrow
13:
1341:
1143:from the original on 27 April 2017
618:Hunter, I. Q. (8 September 2016).
583:from the original on 16 July 2015.
485: – Design feature or practice
440:is used on the microblogging site
14:
1426:
1369:
394:During the early 2000s, the term
313:Sociology of scientific knowledge
1164:"All your FAIL are belong to us"
841:Clarke, Randolph (2 June 2014).
467: – Systemic risk of failure
251:
113:did Americans commonly label an
21:Structural integrity and failure
1221:
1188:
1037:
985:
926:
900:
873:
834:
194:
178:
1228:Malik, Asmaa (24 April 2010).
933:Rettberg, Jill Walker (2022).
741:
710:
665:
638:
611:
565:
365:
309:Superseded theories in science
128:
1:
675:Journal of Marketing Research
624:. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
558:
302:
1267:. Cambridge, Massachusetts:
754:CBE: Life Sciences Education
339:special theory of relativity
92:
7:
1386:The New York Times Magazine
451:
327:Michelson–Morley experiment
10:
1431:
1356:Princeton University Press
1044:Bridges, Lauren E (2021).
910:. Edge.org. Archived from
766:10.1187/cbe.CBE-14-03-0054
688:10.1177/002224379903600305
306:
255:
198:
133:A commercial failure is a
29:
18:
1014:10.1177/20539517211069891
952:10.1177/20539517221131290
723:Boston Hospitality Review
410:and the superlative form
390:Internet memes and "fail"
1269:Harvard University Press
1063:10.1177/2053951720977882
36:Failure (disambiguation)
849:Oxford University Press
536:Single point of failure
398:began to be used as an
25:Reliability engineering
1056:(1): 205395172097788.
1050:Big Data & Society
1007:(1): 205395172110698.
1001:Big Data & Society
945:(2): 205395172211312.
939:Big Data & Society
59:
1297:Philosophical Studies
682:(3): 356–372 at 358.
317:Philosophy of science
210:Mount Holyoke College
46:
32:Fail (disambiguation)
886:. World Scientific.
459:Catastrophic failure
266:Philosophers in the
201:Grading in education
577:merriam-webster.com
406:. The interjection
331:luminiferous aether
258:Criminal negligence
97:Cultural historian
1310:10.1007/BF00368204
1136:The New York Times
914:on 5 December 2013
831:, p. 162–163.
542:Structural failure
530:Setting up to fail
507:Governance failure
402:in the context of
360:cybernetic rupture
238:Harvard University
208:By the year 1884,
60:
1379:(7 August 2009),
1278:978-0-674-04305-3
1259:Sandage, Scott A.
1129:(7 August 2009).
893:978-981-256-621-8
866:978-0-19-934752-0
658:978-1-317-36223-4
631:978-1-62356-897-9
465:Cascading failure
372:miserable failure
286:Patricia G. Smith
236:system spread to
1422:
1389:
1337:
1290:
1245:
1244:
1242:
1240:
1234:Montreal Gazette
1225:
1219:
1218:
1216:
1214:
1192:
1186:
1185:
1183:
1181:
1159:
1153:
1152:
1150:
1148:
1123:
1112:
1111:
1109:
1107:
1090:
1084:
1083:
1065:
1041:
1035:
1034:
1016:
998:
989:
983:
982:
964:
954:
930:
924:
923:
921:
919:
904:
898:
897:
877:
871:
870:
838:
832:
826:
820:
814:
808:
802:
796:
795:
785:
745:
739:
738:
714:
708:
707:
669:
663:
662:
642:
636:
635:
615:
609:
603:
597:
591:
585:
584:
569:
547:
524:Normal Accidents
489:Failure analysis
378:", which caused
349:magazine editor
120:
1430:
1429:
1425:
1424:
1423:
1421:
1420:
1419:
1415:Social concepts
1400:
1399:
1372:
1348:Perrow, Charles
1344:
1342:Further reading
1279:
1249:
1248:
1238:
1236:
1226:
1222:
1212:
1210:
1193:
1189:
1179:
1177:
1160:
1156:
1146:
1144:
1124:
1115:
1105:
1103:
1091:
1087:
1042:
1038:
996:
990:
986:
931:
927:
917:
915:
906:
905:
901:
894:
878:
874:
867:
839:
835:
827:
823:
815:
811:
803:
799:
746:
742:
715:
711:
670:
666:
659:
643:
639:
632:
616:
612:
604:
600:
592:
588:
571:
570:
566:
561:
556:
551:System accident
545:
454:
392:
380:Google searches
368:
335:Albert Einstein
319:
305:
264:
254:
203:
197:
181:
162:Box-office bomb
157:dot-com company
131:
123:individualistic
118:
95:
39:
28:
17:
12:
11:
5:
1428:
1418:
1417:
1412:
1398:
1397:
1391:
1371:
1370:External links
1368:
1367:
1366:
1343:
1340:
1339:
1338:
1304:(2): 159–176.
1291:
1277:
1247:
1246:
1220:
1187:
1154:
1113:
1085:
1036:
984:
925:
899:
892:
872:
865:
851:. p. 32.
833:
821:
819:, p. 160.
809:
807:, p. 159.
797:
760:(2): 159–166.
740:
709:
664:
657:
637:
630:
610:
598:
586:
563:
562:
560:
557:
555:
554:
548:
539:
533:
527:
521:
515:
512:Market failure
509:
504:
498:
492:
486:
480:
474:
468:
462:
455:
453:
450:
404:Internet memes
391:
388:
384:George W. Bush
376:Google bombing
367:
364:
304:
301:
262:Omission (law)
253:
250:
196:
193:
180:
177:
169:cult following
165:
164:
159:
153:dot-com bubble
149:
130:
127:
117:man 'a failure
94:
91:
15:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
1427:
1416:
1413:
1411:
1408:
1407:
1405:
1395:
1392:
1388:
1387:
1382:
1378:
1374:
1373:
1365:
1364:0-691-00412-9
1361:
1357:
1353:
1349:
1346:
1345:
1335:
1331:
1327:
1323:
1319:
1315:
1311:
1307:
1303:
1299:
1298:
1292:
1288:
1284:
1280:
1274:
1270:
1266:
1265:
1260:
1256:
1255:
1254:
1253:
1252:Other sources
1235:
1231:
1224:
1208:
1204:
1203:
1198:
1191:
1175:
1171:
1170:
1165:
1158:
1142:
1138:
1137:
1132:
1128:
1122:
1120:
1118:
1102:
1101:
1096:
1089:
1081:
1077:
1073:
1069:
1064:
1059:
1055:
1051:
1047:
1040:
1032:
1028:
1024:
1020:
1015:
1010:
1006:
1002:
995:
988:
980:
976:
972:
968:
963:
962:11250/3035859
958:
953:
948:
944:
940:
936:
929:
913:
909:
903:
895:
889:
885:
884:
876:
868:
862:
858:
854:
850:
846:
845:
837:
830:
825:
818:
813:
806:
801:
793:
789:
784:
779:
775:
771:
767:
763:
759:
755:
751:
744:
736:
732:
728:
724:
720:
713:
705:
701:
697:
693:
689:
685:
681:
677:
676:
668:
660:
654:
651:. Routledge.
650:
649:
641:
633:
627:
623:
622:
614:
607:
602:
596:, p. 12.
595:
590:
582:
578:
574:
568:
564:
552:
549:
543:
540:
537:
534:
531:
528:
525:
522:
519:
516:
513:
510:
508:
505:
502:
499:
496:
493:
490:
487:
484:
481:
478:
475:
472:
469:
466:
463:
460:
457:
456:
449:
447:
443:
439:
435:
434:
429:
425:
424:
419:
415:
414:
409:
405:
401:
397:
387:
385:
381:
377:
373:
363:
361:
357:
352:
348:
347:
342:
340:
336:
332:
328:
324:
318:
314:
310:
300:
298:
293:
291:
287:
283:
281:
275:
273:
269:
263:
259:
252:In philosophy
249:
247:
243:
239:
235:
231:
227:
223:
219:
215:
211:
206:
202:
192:
188:
185:
176:
174:
170:
163:
160:
158:
154:
150:
148:
144:
143:
142:
138:
136:
126:
124:
116:
112:
108:
104:
100:
99:Scott Sandage
90:
88:
82:
80:
79:zero-sum game
76:
72:
68:
64:
58:
54:
50:
45:
41:
37:
33:
26:
22:
1384:
1351:
1301:
1295:
1263:
1251:
1250:
1237:. Retrieved
1233:
1223:
1211:. Retrieved
1200:
1190:
1178:. Retrieved
1169:The Guardian
1167:
1157:
1145:. Retrieved
1134:
1104:. Retrieved
1098:
1088:
1053:
1049:
1039:
1004:
1000:
987:
942:
938:
928:
916:. Retrieved
912:the original
902:
882:
875:
843:
836:
824:
812:
800:
757:
753:
743:
726:
722:
712:
679:
673:
667:
647:
640:
620:
613:
606:Sandage 2006
601:
594:Sandage 2006
589:
576:
567:
518:Murphy's law
501:Failure rate
495:Failure mode
431:
423:Blazing Star
421:
412:
411:
407:
400:interjection
395:
393:
369:
359:
356:null results
345:
343:
320:
294:
284:
276:
265:
245:
241:
233:
229:
225:
221:
217:
207:
204:
195:In education
189:
182:
179:In marketing
166:
139:
132:
106:
96:
83:
62:
61:
40:
1377:Zimmer, Ben
1127:Zimmer, Ben
366:Linguistics
351:Kevin Kelly
323:experiments
280:blameworthy
129:In business
75:competition
1404:Categories
1396:from Japan
1197:"Epic Win"
1100:Snopes.com
847:. Oxford:
829:Smith 1990
817:Smith 1990
805:Smith 1990
559:References
446:fail whale
418:Ben Zimmer
370:The term "
307:See also:
303:In science
256:See also:
214:percentage
199:See also:
191:esteem)".
103:bankruptcy
87:heuristics
1334:170763594
1318:0031-8116
1287:436295765
1213:21 August
1080:233890960
1072:2053-9517
1031:250180452
1023:2053-9517
979:253026358
971:2053-9517
774:1931-7913
735:2326-0351
704:220628355
696:0022-2437
483:Fail-safe
433:Fail Blog
428:game over
413:epic fail
290:negligent
184:Marketing
115:insolvent
111:Civil War
93:Sociology
67:objective
1358:, 1999.
1261:(2006).
1207:Archived
1180:9 August
1174:Archived
1147:9 August
1141:Archived
1106:9 August
792:26086649
581:Archived
471:Disaster
452:See also
268:analytic
220:through
173:coolness
1410:Failure
1326:4320126
918:24 June
783:4041495
442:Twitter
438:hashtag
135:product
71:success
63:Failure
1362:
1332:
1324:
1316:
1285:
1275:
1239:21 May
1078:
1070:
1029:
1021:
977:
969:
890:
863:
790:
780:
772:
733:
702:
694:
655:
628:
315:, and
272:ethics
155:, see
57:Ladakh
55:road,
1330:S2CID
1322:JSTOR
1202:Slate
1076:S2CID
1027:S2CID
997:(PDF)
975:S2CID
729:(1).
700:S2CID
477:Error
346:Wired
224:with
107:being
77:or a
53:Nubra
1360:ISBN
1314:ISSN
1283:OCLC
1273:ISBN
1241:2010
1215:2009
1182:2009
1149:2009
1108:2009
1068:ISSN
1019:ISSN
967:ISSN
920:2014
888:ISBN
861:ISBN
788:PMID
770:ISSN
731:ISSN
692:ISSN
653:ISBN
626:ISBN
408:fail
396:fail
297:norm
260:and
34:and
23:and
1306:doi
1058:doi
1009:doi
957:hdl
947:doi
853:doi
778:PMC
762:doi
684:doi
448:".
337:'s
51:to
49:Leh
1406::
1383:,
1350:.
1328:.
1320:.
1312:.
1302:59
1300:.
1281:.
1271:.
1232:.
1205:.
1199:.
1172:.
1166:.
1139:.
1133:.
1116:^
1097:.
1074:.
1066:.
1052:.
1048:.
1025:.
1017:.
1003:.
999:.
973:.
965:.
955:.
941:.
937:.
859:.
786:.
776:.
768:.
758:13
756:.
752:.
725:.
721:.
698:.
690:.
680:36
678:.
579:.
575:.
386:.
341:.
311:,
222:E,
175:.
1390:.
1336:.
1308::
1289:.
1243:.
1217:.
1184:.
1151:.
1110:.
1082:.
1060::
1054:8
1033:.
1011::
1005:9
981:.
959::
949::
943:9
922:.
896:.
869:.
855::
794:.
764::
737:.
727:7
706:.
686::
661:.
634:.
246:E
242:F
234:E
232:–
230:A
226:E
218:A
119:'
38:.
27:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.