_{Selfie in my workplace / Selfie in my classroom / A quiet moment}

Hello steemians,

I am genuinely happy to participate in SLC-S29/W5 “Thinking and Ideas!| Ideas That Failed (and Why)!” by @ninapenda, not because I enjoy failure or because I want to present myself as someone who always struggles, but because I have come to realize through real experiences, not through motivational quotes, that the most reliable form of learning is the kind that forces you to slow down, examine your own thinking, and accept that sometimes your idea was not bad, yet your preparation, your assumptions, your environment, or even your timing was not strong enough to carry that idea from imagination into reality, and in that sense, failure becomes like a harsh teacher who does not flatter you but who gives you the exact feedback your ego would normally reject.

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Failure is often more educational than success. Do I agree?

Yes, I agree, and I agree deeply, because success can sometimes happen even when we do not understand the full reason behind it, which means it can easily create overconfidence and repetition without reflection, while failure almost always carries information, because when something breaks, when people stop responding, when results do not come, when expectations collapse, you are forced to ask the uncomfortable questions that success rarely encourages, such as what did I assume without proof, what did I ignore because it was inconvenient, what part of the plan depended too much on motivation instead of structure, and once you answer these questions honestly, your thinking becomes more mature than any simple win could make it.

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1) Describe an idea, plan, or decision (mine) that failed

The idea that failed for me was the creation of a structured WhatsApp study and revision group for students, an idea that looked extremely practical because students already spend many hours on WhatsApp daily, and I believed that if I could redirect even a small portion of that attention into learning, revision, and problem-solving discussion, then I would be able to improve their academic performance steadily, not through panic-study during exam week, but through a consistent routine that trains memory, understanding, and discipline gradually, like building strength through daily exercise instead of expecting strength from one rushed effort.

At the beginning, everything seemed to confirm my optimism, because many students joined quickly, and they reacted positively, and some even praised the initiative, which made me think that the group would naturally grow into a strong community of learning, but as the weeks passed, participation became inconsistent, responses reduced, students started reading without answering, the quiet members became the majority, and the group slowly turned into something that looked alive in numbers but dead in spirit, until it finally reached the stage where even the most serious learners lost interest because the environment no longer felt focused, supportive, or worth their attention.

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2) What was the original intention behind it?

My original intention was not simply to create a chat group, because anyone can open a WhatsApp group in two minutes, but to create a learning culture that would quietly repair a deep weakness I observe among many students, which is the habit of waiting until pressure becomes extreme before they start thinking seriously, and then using memorization as a shortcut instead of building understanding, and because I teach a logic-based subject where guessing is punished by wrong outputs and confusion, I wanted a space where learners could train their minds in small daily doses, ask questions without fear, and gradually develop the ability to explain their reasoning clearly, because I believe that when a person can explain their thinking in steps, they begin to control their thinking instead of being controlled by it.

So the intention was to make learning continuous, collaborative, and practical, by posting short daily tasks, quick revision prompts, small quizzes, and mini-explanations, while encouraging students to respond in a way that shows their reasoning, not only their final answer, so that the group becomes a mirror where they see their thinking process clearly and improve it over time.

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3) Why do I think it failed?

It failed, not because WhatsApp cannot be used for learning, and not because students hate progress, but because I made several assumptions that sounded reasonable in theory but became weak in practice, and the first major mistake was that I overestimated motivation, because I assumed that students who want success will naturally act consistently, yet motivation changes quickly, and if your system depends on motivation instead of structure, then the system will collapse the moment students get tired, distracted, or emotionally lazy, which is normal human behavior and not proof that they are hopeless.

The second major reason was that I did not build strong rules and boundaries early enough, because I wanted the group to feel friendly and relaxed, so I tolerated small off-topic conversations, jokes, and irrelevant posts, and although those things looked harmless at first, they slowly shaped the culture of the group into something more social than educational, and once a group’s culture changes, serious people stop speaking because they feel outnumbered, and when serious people stop speaking, the group becomes a playground, and when it becomes a playground, learning dies quietly.

The third reason was the lack of accountability and measurement, because I did not track participation in a simple way, I did not assign roles, I did not create a system where students feel responsibility, and I did not create visible progress indicators, which meant students could ignore daily tasks with no consequence, and when there is no consequence, most people naturally choose comfort, not effort, especially when they are young and surrounded by distractions that are far more enjoyable than thinking.

Another reason, which is subtle but powerful, is that the platform itself is designed for distraction, because WhatsApp is not a classroom, it is a stream of endless notifications, family chats, entertainment groups, trending news, and emotional conversations, so unless the learning group becomes extremely structured and engaging, it will always lose the battle for attention, not because learning is useless, but because distraction is loud and learning is quiet.

So in one sentence, the idea failed because the execution ignored human psychology and relied too much on hope, when it should have relied on design, discipline, and structure.

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_{A good idea needs a strong structure to survive reality}

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4) What would I do differently if given another chance?

If I were given another chance, I would not repeat the same approach with bigger energy, because repeating the same structure with more effort is still the same mistake, so instead I would redesign the idea from the foundation, starting with a smaller group of truly committed students, because a learning community grows stronger when the first members set a serious culture, and culture is more important than numbers.

Then I would create strict and clear rules from day one, not because I enjoy punishment, but because rules protect purpose, and without purpose the group becomes noise, so I would define posting times, study-only expectations, consequences for off-topic posts, and I would make it clear that the group is a learning space, not an entertainment zone, because clarity reduces confusion and reduces temptation.

I would also assign roles, such as student moderators, weekly quiz leaders, and answer reviewers, because when people have roles, they feel ownership, and when they feel ownership, they participate more consistently, and I would introduce simple gamification, such as points for correct answers, weekly recognition for the most active learners, and small real-life rewards like classroom praise, because young minds respond strongly to recognition and competition, and learning becomes easier when it feels like progress is visible and respected.

Finally, I would measure the system, not with complex tools, but with simple indicators like participation rate, quiz performance, and topic mastery, because what you measure is what you can improve, and without measurement you only have opinions, not evidence.

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My biggest lesson from this failure

My biggest lesson is that a good idea can fail when the system is weak, because ideas are fragile at the beginning, and reality does not reward intentions, it rewards structure, and if you want an idea to survive, you must design it like a bridge that can carry weight, not like a dream that floats beautifully in the air, and that is why I now respect planning more, testing more, and building habits more, because habits are stronger than motivation.

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Conclusion

In conclusion, I do not see this failure as a shameful memory that should be hidden, because it taught me that the difference between a smart idea and a working idea is not intelligence, but design, discipline, and realistic understanding of human behavior, and today I plan differently, because I test small first, I build structure early, and I measure progress consistently, so that I do not confuse excitement with results again.

I invite @damithudaya, @miftahulrizky, and @bijoy1 to participate in this week’s challenge and share your own unique failed idea and what it taught you, because sometimes your story can save another person from repeating the same mistake.

Best Regards,
@kouba01