I think people ought to be rewarded for their work. Frustrations and misfires can lead to people feeling very discouraged about their capabilities, and overcoming them and greeting success is something that we should celebrate.

But there is something to be said about how to celebrate success. Earlier this year I saw the movie Whiplash, where a ruthless orchestra conductor tells one of his students that there are no two words more harmful in the English language than “Good job.” Hearing those words makes us think, “Yeah I did do pretty well,” and though some might strive for more, the conductor complains that the praise causes people to settle. To see that they met the bar and think, Well I guess that’s good enough.

Though the character in the movie is very unlikable, I like the intent. The “everyone gets a trophy culture” annoys me because it praises people for the wrong things. I have lost track of the number of times I have read quotes from sports players, actors, business professionals and people in all other walks of life that say something along the lines of “Don’t be afraid to fail, make it a learning experience.” The trophy inhibits this.

It doesn’t have to, but the perception of it does. Hard work can be it’s own reward, and the work itself is subjective depending on who attempted it. But the trophy is a glittering designation of “You did better.” Which is not only the wrong message to be sending out, but it can also hurt both the “winners” and “losers.” The winners are affirmed not only that what they did was great, but that it was better than everyone else. The trophy tells them that not only were their efforts qualified as a “good job,” but that they are on top. But you’re never on top, there’s always more to see, more to do, more to accomplish. And other participants are recognized for their efforts, but told that they placed “behind him but before her.”

We need to reward nonmaterial efforts in nonmaterial ways. You can still give out a first place designation, but a blue ribbon cheapens it, despite the gold lettering embossed on it.

We need to offer more praise for efforts than specific end results. Which is tricky, because it’s often the end products that are available for presentation. But the trophies misrepresent the failure in a big way.

Certain trophies are deserved. Ones that come at the end of journeys soaked in sweat and tears, and maybe even blood too. But if you got fifth place in the third grade spelling bee, you don’t need the bust of the letter A painted in gold. It is OK to fail because failures can be praised too. But not with the material pomp and circumstance.

Failure is when you start out on the right path and you mess up. The fifth runner up in the spelling bee still tried. Their effort and ability to problem solve got them to that point. It’s not worthy of a trophy, but it’s something. It’s cause for further encouragement. A failure is not a sign that you’ve stuck yourself in a place that you can’t navigate out of, a failure is a step toward success.

Though it might not be the most eloquent nugget, I really like the following quote from the animated show Adventure Time: “Sometimes sucking is the first step to being sort of good at something.” We need to show people that failures are part of the path to success, and that they are an important step to being good at anything. The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.

If children are praised for the methods that had them on the right path, rather than being given a trophy that gives them a misguided sense of success, we can look forward to a future with lots of screw ups and misfires. But without a golden bust to reward them for being “just all right,” with the proper critiques, those screw ups will surge onward instead of just settling.

Jeffrey Langan can be reached at 5466@stthomas.edu.