Lessons Learned from 2014: Turning Lemons into Lemonade

The beginning of this story actually starts at the end of 2013.  You may or may not remember me telling you that S was studying for a promotional test.  I have never seen anyone as prepared to go take a test in my life.

Which is why I, along with his family, friends, and almost the whole fire department was shocked when he didn't pass.

Here's what happened in a nutshell:

This particular promotional test is split into to parts: skills and written.  There were, I believe, 3 or 4 skills that he needed to pass.  He aced almost every single portion of the skills and written tests.  Then there was what was called the ESO.  The ESO is the way that firefighters/paramedics do their 'paperwork' on medical calls.  This portion of the test was subjective to how the person who wrote it wanted it graded.  Meaning that S could have seen the situation one way but if the author saw it another, he was docked points.  The worst part is that there was no manual or course on how to study for it, so no one was able to study for it.

S along with two of his coworkers failed this portion.  It didn't matter that S was the top scorer in every other area that day--failing one portion meant that he failed the entire test.

I don't know if you can even imagine how devastating this was to S and our family at that time.  I was so angry.  (And I wasn't the only one!)  Never had I seen anyone so prepared or so qualified for a promotion.  

S was angry, too, at first.  He decided to submit the legal paperwork--arguing that the test wasn't fair.  If anyone had a hard time seeing that there was a problem with this process, then they should just look at him as a worthy candidate not passing.  The two other coworkers also went forward with the process of challenging the fire department.

Then something changed in S.  I think he realized that arguing would only make more problems.  If anything would change, it would likely affect his coworkers who did pass (one of whom is a very good friend of his.)  So instead, he withdrew his challenge and accepted that he just wouldn't get the promotion this time around.  I feel this was extremely hard for him to admit.  In doing so, he likely wouldn't be qualified in time to test for Engineer, which is his career goal.

So rather than just sulk in his misery (which, honestly, no one could blame him if he did!) he decided to look at the testing process and find a way to improve it.  Remember me telling you that there was no way for candidates to study for the ESO portion?  S decided that this needed to change.  With permission, he started constructing an ESO manual.  I don't remember how long it took him, but it was at least half of last year.  I still remember the look of pride on his face when he finished.

Something else was happening, too.  All of the chiefs and other people 'in charge' were starting to take notice.  The two that fought the test ended up losing and causing some bad feelings in the department.  Then there was S who was quietly going to work to improve something in the only way he knew how. 

It was at this point I started to see what a blessing it had been that he didn't pass.  I have told him so many times that he's probably sick hearing it: him not passing and his reaction to the situation put him in a better light professionally than if he had passed the first time around.  It speaks volumes to his character and I know that when it comes time for the big promotions that count, people are really going to remember him now.

So of course the promotional test became available again in December 2014.  He spent a lot of time studying again, but his attitude was different.  Before he was aiming for the #1 spot--this time he just wanted to pass!  We were a bundle of nerves for a couple of months.  A week before Christmas he went to take his test.  I was on edge all morning but then the texts started rolling in saying that he had passed certain skills that we'd worried about.  He came home a completely different person than he'd been the year prior.  About 5 o'clock that evening he received an email confirming that, not only had he passed, he scored the highest score.  And by highest score, I mean it was near perfect!  It was such a great end to what had been a hard lesson.  

I was one happy wife.  If I have to be honest, though, I'm still more proud of how he handled himself after not passing than I was when he scored first place.  I sure love that man!