From Failure to ITIL Certification: An ITIL Journey Told Through Classic Literature

I did not pass ITIL because I finally knew enough. I passed because I finally learned how to read the system like a story. Every failure was a revision, a re-reading of the same book at a deeper level. And that depth is something no shortcut could have given me.

** - Gab Cahiwat - ITIL Coordinator | PassionIT Group**

Not a Straight Path, But a Written One

If ITIL were a book, it would not be a textbook. It would not be linear, simple, or predictable.

It would be closer to The Odyssey by Homer, a long journey filled with repetition, setbacks, confusion, and moments where you question whether you are actually getting closer to your destination or simply drifting further into complexity.

And like Odysseus, I did not pass through ITIL certification in a straight line.

I failed. Then I failed again. And again.

Across ITIL CDS (Create, Deliver & Support), ITIL MSF (Monitor, Support & Fulfil), and ITIL Experience, I went through multiple attempts, until learning finally replaced frustration.

But the truth is this: I was not failing exams. I was learning how to think in a different language.

The Three Modules: Three Stories, One Journey

ITIL CDS · Create, Deliver & Support

Moby Dick and the Illusion of Understanding
Herman Melville, 1851

My first encounter with ITIL CDS felt like stepping into the pages of Moby Dick. At first glance, everything appears structured. Defined processes. Clear service value streams. Logical workflows. Predictable systems. It feels like you are reading a well-organized story about how service delivery works.

But like Ishmael on the Pequod, I quickly learned that understanding the structure is not the same as surviving the journey.

CDS exams do not ask you to recall definitions. They ask you to navigate storms. Scenario-based questions are not about memorization, they are about judgment under uncertainty. And like Ahab chasing meaning through chaos, I found myself overthinking, second-guessing, and misreading intent.

I failed. Not because I did not study. But because I was still reading ITIL like a book, instead of thinking like someone inside the system.

Lesson: Structure without judgment is not enough. ITIL CDS rewards those who can navigate complexity in real time.

ITIL MSF · Monitor, Support & Fulfil

Robinson Crusoe and the Isolation of Operational Thinking
Daniel Defoe, 1719

If CDS was the ocean, then MSF felt like Robinson Crusoe. A system of survival. A world where every action matters because resources are limited, and every decision has consequences.

MSF is where ITIL becomes operational. You are no longer just learning frameworks. You are monitoring systems continuously, responding to incidents under pressure, supporting users in real time, and ensuring fulfilment happens without breaking flow.

And just like Crusoe on his island, everything depends on how well you adapt to your environment. There were moments I thought I understood MSF. But the exam questions revealed something deeper: understanding process is not enough.

And again, I failed. But each failure was not rejection. It was adaptation training.

Lesson: Operational competence in ITIL MSF is earned through adaptation, not just comprehension.

ITIL Experience

Frankenstein and the Human Side of ITIL
Mary Shelley, 1818

Then came ITIL Experience. And this felt closest to Frankenstein. Not in horror, but in creation.

Because Experience is where ITIL stops being mechanical and becomes deeply human. It is about perception, emotion, service experience, user satisfaction, and value as felt, not just delivered. Like Victor Frankenstein assembling life from parts, ITIL Experience forces you to assemble meaning from multiple systems: service delivery, governance, user interaction, and organizational behavior.

But here is the twist: the “creature” is not technology. It is experience itself.

And if you fail to understand how users feel inside the system, then even perfect delivery becomes meaningless. This is the most subtle part of ITIL, and the hardest to master. Because it requires emotional intelligence, not just process knowledge.

Lesson: ITIL Experience cannot be passed by knowing the framework. It requires understanding what it feels like to be inside it.

The Real Pattern Behind All My Failures

Looking back, my journey across CDS, MSF, and Experience mirrors something closer to Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë: a steady evolution of self-understanding through struggle.

Each failure was not a stop. It was a revision. A re-reading of the same book, but at a deeper level each time. And that is not a metaphor. That is literally how the learning worked.

What Finally Changed: Reading ITIL as a Story

The breakthrough came when I stopped treating ITIL as isolated modules. Instead, I started seeing it as a continuous story, because like any great novel, the chapters only make sense when read together. And suddenly, exam questions started to feel different. They were not traps. They were plot points.

When I stopped trying to answer ITIL exam questions and started trying to understand what the scenario needed, what value was being protected, what flow was being maintained, everything changed. The questions stopped feeling like obstacles and started feeling like scenes in a story I finally understood.

** - Gab Cahiwat - ITIL Coordinator | PassionIT Group**

The Exam Strategy That Finally Worked

Instead of memorizing, I started applying what I now think of as literary reading strategies. The same tools that help you understand a novel helped me interpret ITIL scenario questions.

1. Identify the tone of the scenario
   Is this a reactive situation or a proactive one? Is it operational, tactical, or strategic? Reading the emotional register of the scenario tells you what kind of answer belongs there.

    

2. Understand character intent
   In ITIL terms: what value is being prioritized? Who are the stakeholders and what do they actually need, not what they have asked for, but what the situation requires.

    

3. Choose the answer that advances the story logically
   The right ITIL answer is the one that moves the situation forward toward value creation in the most coherent, least disruptive way. Like a good editor choosing the next plot point.

The Core Shift in How to Study for ITIL Exams

• Stop reading CDS, MSF, and Experience as separate subjects. They are one system told in three voices.
• Do not memorize definitions. Internalize the decisions those definitions are meant to support.
• Practice scenario questions not to find the “correct” answer, but to understand why one answer creates more value than another.
• Read practice exams like literature. What is the author of the question trying to test? What story is being told?
• Embrace failure as the feedback loop it is, not as an obstacle to get past as quickly as possible.

Why Failure Was Necessary

If I had passed early, I would have memorized ITIL. But instead, I learned to interpret it. And interpretation is deeper than knowledge. It is the difference between reading words and understanding meaning.

Now when I look at ITIL CDS, MSF, and Experience, I no longer see exams. I see literature. A structured system of human decisions, operational tension, and value creation. And like all great stories, The Odyssey, Moby Dick, Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, it only makes sense after you have lived through the journey yourself.

You do not succeed in ITIL by memorizing the book. You succeed by understanding the story. And sometimes, the only way to understand the story is to read it more than once, failures included.

Gab Cahiwat - ITIL Coordinator | PassionIT Group