Over the weekend, author Jim
Rasenberger was interviewed by NPR's Noah Adams on his book The
Brilliant Disaster. The new book deals with Bay of Pigs debacle 50
years ago when anti-Castro revolutionaries failed in their invasion of their
homeland. Rasenberger believes that the most important legacy of the Bay of Pigs may
be to remember Murphy's Law: "Things
are going to go wrong."
President Kennedy was proud that
his administration was composed of “the best and the brightest.” Rasenberger suggests, “It would be wise for
presidents to have a few people in their administration more acquainted with
things not going well."
Perhaps this is something to
think about when we pull together a team.
We always want to “get the right people on the bus” (as Jim Collins
says), but the right people may include some who have tried, failed, and learned
from their experiences. We all will fail
but the important thing is to learn from our failures.
Some of my coach friends would
counter, “There is no such thing as failure.”
I would have to differ because I have been involved in some
whoppers! These projects involved major investments
of time, people, prayer, and money but they failed to achieve their goals. Did I learn from those experiences? Yes.
Will I ever make the same mistakes again? Maybe so, but not in exactly the same way.
When I was in my thirties, I was
being reviewed by my supervisor and felt compelled to tell him all the things
that I had tried that had failed. I was
surprised when he said, “No problem.
Keep trying. It’s the only way
you are going to learn anything!”
When you put together your team,
don’t be afraid to include some people who have stumbled. If they have picked themselves up and learned
why they stumbled, they can be a valuable part of your team.
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