Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

I can do something wrong. I can do something right, but be mistaken in how I tell the story of the doing. There is a difference. Is one mistake better?

I can do something wrong. For example, not tighten the lug nuts properly when I change a tire on a car.

I can do something right, but recount it wrong. For example, change the tire properly but have the story of how to change a tire all backwards and incorrect.

There is a difference in these things. One means I am in trouble when driving down the road. The other means that anyone who listens to me on how to change a tire may have trouble one day.

I can do the job wrong and recount it wrong. Yikes. I can do the job right and recount it right. Yes, that’s desirable. All this can give me a headache.

Enough about changing tires. The same applies to big things that project managers and heads of industry and government do. It all requires some thinking and caring. Perhaps that is the lesson of all this. Let’s all think more. Let’s all care more. We can do better.