Plain Lab · journal
Failure Log
A record of what went wrong, kept plainly enough that looking at it again does not cost anything extra.
Specification
- Trim
- 148 × 210 mm · 5.827 × 8.268 in
- Pages
- 80
- Leaves
- 40
- Sheets
- 20
- Signatures
- 4 × 20pp
- Spine
- 4.58 mm
- Paper
- white
- Ruling
- lined
- Ruling pitch
- 9.17 mm · 26.00 pt
- Rows per page
- 18
There is no column here for whose fault it was. A failure log that starts by assigning blame gets written defensively, and a defensive record protects the writer instead of describing the failure.
Notes pages hold the failure itself: what was supposed to happen, what happened instead, what you noticed at the time. A short set of prompt pages asks what you would change if the same situation came up again. Reflection pages, the largest section in the book, are for reading several entries at once, because one failure on its own rarely tells you much.
The point is not to feel worse about any of it. The point is to stop being surprised by the same failure twice.
What is inside
- Notes
- 28pp
- What was supposed to happen, what happened instead, and what you noticed at the time.
- Prompt
- 10pp
- A short question set about what you would change if the situation repeated.
- Reflection
- 30pp
- The largest section, for reading several entries together rather than one at a time.
- Reference
- 12pp
- The owner page and reference tables at the back.
The film
Page by page
A vertical film from our own bench — this page contacts nobody's server to play it, and downloads nothing until you press play.
Real pages
Made at the Hibrkraft bindery, Bogor · about the maker
Books that sit alongside it
- Attendance Register 2027Works alongsideshares record-keeping
- Complaint LogWorks alongsideshares record-keeping
- Gratitude LedgerWorks alongsideshares record-keeping
Questions
Is it dated?
No. Open it the day something goes wrong.
Does it ask whose fault it was?
No. There is no field for blame anywhere in the book.
How is it different from the reflection pages?
The notes pages record one failure at a time. The reflection pages are for reading several entries back and noticing what repeats.
Is this for work failures or personal ones?
Either. The page does not sort them.
Will it make failure easier to take?
No. It only makes the pattern in it easier to see.
Why is it that men give so poor an account of their day if they have not been slumbering?
