One of my all-time favorite book titles is “Failing Forward” by John Maxwell. It captures one of my basic values, that failure can be a very good thing. In fact, most of the really important things I’ve learned came as a result of really big messes I got myself into.
Camp Kenoshawa – Ok, that’s not its real name. But there really was a camp in Wisconsin where, after my sophomore year in college, I was hired on as a counselor for the summer. I managed to hang on until about the beginning of August before getting fired for insubordination. Lessons learned: You can mouth off on the job only if you don’t really care whether or not you get fired, some bosses are certifiable and you probably don’t want to work for them anyway, a lot of organizations have no idea how to invite healthy participation from their employees.
Big Bran Muffins – That’s not its real name, either. But I really did start a muffin-baking company once upon a time. I hooked up with a company that was selling muffin mixes by the boatload – giant muffins – made out of bran, fiber, what looked a little like bird seed, and other health-nut ingredients. I baked, packaged, and sold them basically door-to-door to local convenience stores. After six months or so I had a couple of regular accounts but mostly I was getting odd looks from the store owners. It was the early 80’s. Who would want to eat something that tasted this BAD, they wanted to know? I closed up shop having lost a good chunk of my initial investment, thinking that if I didn’t get out fast I’d lose my shirt, too. Lessons learned: If you’re going to be ahead of the curve you have to be ready to hang on while the rest of the world catches up with you, some people will buy anything if you’re persistent and enthusiastic enough, it turns out people really WILL eat stuff that tastes bad if they think it’s good for them!




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