October, 2010 Sketchings

“THE A-B-CS OF HANDLING MISTAKES”

A grizzled old sea captain was often spotted by his crew opening a small, locked box on the bridge, peeking inside at its contents, and shutting the lid before anyone might glimpse inside. The crew's curiosity grew and, on the day he retired, they rushed to the bridge, cut the lock and looked inside the box. There they found a sheet of paper that read, "Left -- port. Right -- starboard."

If you’ve ever sailed or been on a boat you’ll understand this even more acutely. Probably no one who has sailed can keep port and starboard right every time. Probably every one who has sailed has yelled out “obstacle to port” when they meant the opposite. I’ve done it several times my self, and even more often in some other life calls I’ve made.

One such mess us up, gives us nightmares about making a mistake. Some people won’t act because they are afraid to err. Others feel as if no one is listening until a mistake has been made!

For we humans, who make mistakes and err – we simply can’t help it, here’s the story of Roy Riegels.

The story is told about Roy and the 1929 Rose Bowl championship football game between Georgia Tech and the University of California. Shortly before half-time, a man named Roy Riegels made a huge mistake. He got the ball for California and somehow became confused and started running in the wrong direction! One of his team mates outdistanced him and tackled him after he had run 65 yards just before he would have scored for the opposing team. Of course, Georgia Tech gained a distinct advantage through the error.

The men filed off the field and went into the dressing room. All but Riegels sat down on the benches and on the floor. He wrapped his blanket around his shoulders, sat in a corner, put his face in his hands and wept.

Coach Nibbs Price struggled with what to do with Roy. He finally looked at the team and said simply, "Men, the same team that played the first half, will start the second." All the players except Roy trotted out to the field. He didn't budge. Though the coach looked back and called to him again, he remained huddled in the corner. Coach Price went to him and said, "Roy, didn't you hear me?"

"Coach," he said, "I can't do it. I've ruined you; I've ruined UCLA; I've ruined myself. I couldn't face that crowd in the stadium to save my life."

But Coach Price put his hand on Riegels' shoulder and said, "Roy, get up and go on back; the game is only half over." Roy Riegels went back and those Tech men will tell you that they have never seen a man play football as Roy Riegels played that second half.

From this story I’ve learned to apply this A – B – C process to the mistakes I make:

A - Acknowledge the error and accept responsibility for it. Don't try to fix the blame on other people or circumstances. Fixing the blame never fixes the problem.

B - Be gentle. The game is only half over. This is not the first ever made, nor will it be the last. I am still a good and caring person. Besides, later I’m likely to tell wonderful stories about this blunder, so I try and lighten up a bit for now.

C - Correct it and move on. "Those who are wise don't consider it a blessing to make no mistakes," says Wang Yang-Ming. "They believe instead that the great virtue is the ability to correct mistakes and to continually reinvent oneself."

So, we make mistakes. Go ahead and make some mistakes – it means one is not sitting still. And though some may be no less than spectacular, if practicing the A – B - C method, we’ll live to tell about all of them and laugh about most of them.