Fail! Learn to Learn From Other People’s Mistakes

I’m not sure what the fascination is with FailBlog. I read it regularly, always busting my guts at the stupidity of some people. I think to myself, “I would never do that!”

This past weekend our church put together an event, and while I didn’t do anything worthy of the FailBlog, I certainly made some mistakes. And I post these mistakes here so that other people won’t make the same ones.

The event: We organized an event called the Cool Water Tour (a name I stole from the church I used to work at) where we hit up Raging Waters water park in San Dimas and Zuma Beach in Malibu. We stayed overnight at a couple church member’s homes and spent a few hours each evening up at the church doing worship, activities, and a message.

Our theme was pirates! and our theme verse was Matthew 6:21, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” We focused on the reality that our behaviors are influenced by our values.

While a lot of things went well, there were a few gaping holes that needed to be filled.

Here are some mistakes I made:

• I did not begin preparing for the event soon enough. If you think it will take X amount of weeks to prepare for an event (get the word out, plan a schedule, recruit leaders, prepare lessons, book activities, etc.), multiply that by 3 for a more accurate measure of how long it will take. I left myself one month to plan a 3-day weekend trip, which might seem like a lot of time, but I would have better served my students and myself had I left two more months open. This is especially true for parents who are spending the money! Fail.
• I did not make sure everyone had a ride for the whole weekend. Double check every place in your schedule where students will need to be transported and make sure everyone has a ride. This last weekend, I had one leader need to leave early, but I did not consider he was a ride for at least 4 kids. I had to ask another adult to drive at the last minute. Fail.
• I did not clearly communicate to my leaders. For some reason, I always think that they are on board with my thoughts, as if we were somehow telepathic. One of my leaders thought she was merely chaperoning, until I dropped the bomb that she was leading two discussion times with the girls. Fail.
• I did not expect to pay for parking. Silly thing for me, living in LA. Fail.
• I let the kids bring whatever they wanted into the water park. I had to take a few bags back out to the car after they did not fit into the lockers. Fail. Shoes/flip-flops, sunscreen, and a towel should do.
• I did not charge enough for the event. These costs were absorbed by the youth budget (which isn’t very large, anyway): parking, lockers; I did not charge enough for gas expenses; I did not charge enough to cover the cost of the other leaders, who I invited to come for free. Fail.
• Expect to say everything at least three times, even if you were completely clear the first time (because obviously you weren’t).

Overall, I would consider the event a success, and many of the kids said they had lots of fun. I’ll have to quiz them and see if they remember any of the talks we did.

Your Turn

What sort of mistakes can you use to teach others?