A Plan Went Wrong
 |
| Image: All Rights Reserved, |
| New York: Henry Holt and Company |
| c2008 |
Marvin released a long breath. So far, so good. Now he just had to show James the address label. From his new position, he could see Denny examining the drawing on the table in front of Christina. It was framed identically to the original, but even through the glass, Marvin had no trouble recognizing it as his own work.
“I just don’t understand it,” Christina said. “I was so careful. I checked the drawing a dozen times. I don’t know how I could have confused them.”
Karl crouched next to Christina, his hand on her shoulder. “They looked so much alike,” he said gently. “The museum wouldn’t fire you over one mistake.”
She raised her eyes despairingly. “Denny, tell them. That drawing was worth at least half a million dollars. On loan from another institution! And I put it at risk needlessly, for my own stupid purposes.”
Karl shook his head. “No, that’s not fair. You were trying to recover the one that was stolen – Justice. It was a good plan.”
“It was, Christina, and we all gave it our blessing,” Denny said. “But I’m afraid this won’t do much for relations between our two museums. The truth is, we were both responsible for the drawing, and we’ll both pay the price for this…. disaster.”
Extract from the book Masterpiece
By Elise Broach
All Rights Reserved.
New York: Henry Holt and Company, c2008.
Call No.: J English BRO
Extract contributed by Fa’izah Ahmad, Librarian
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Have you ever done something that you thought was right only to find out that you have made a mistake?
February 2nd, 2012 at 11:01 pm
Even though we may thought a careful plan thoroughly sometimes, the consequence is unpredictable. You do not know where and how something just go wrong when your intention is totally good to begin with. I believe that everything happens for a reason, when I made a mistake, the best thing to do is admit it and apologise before anything else. Since the mistake has already been made, then trying to blame yourself or others is useless after all, therefore we have to look forward and brainstorm a solution for the problem. Nobody wishes bad things to happen, but when it happens, we should always overcome it. Life is not all about following what we think and want, we learn to adapt to changes whenever something happens. Learning from the mistakes we made allow us to be more experienced in life. Let us embrace a life full of challenges instead of wishing for a peaceful life where there is no opportunity to shape us with different incidents.
February 7th, 2012 at 8:31 pm
A plan is not foolproof; there are always a plethora of external factors. For example, once I planned an activity for my co-curricular activity. I tried my best, planning the venue, logistics etcetera. On the day, I found I had made a mistake. The participants were just wandering aimlessly, and the whole thing was a fiasco. Later, I wondered why it ad turned out like that. I came to a conclusion that no matter how well you plan, there will be mistakes, and we should learn from mistakes.
February 7th, 2012 at 9:24 pm
Although we may put in our best effort into planning, it is inevitable that our plan backfires. No one can ensure a hundred percent success. As such, when a mistake is made, or a plan fails, do not start blaming anyone. After all, what is done cannot be undone. There is no point crying over spilt milk. Instead, we have to learn from what went wrong, to as to ensure that the same mistake will never be repeated again. Do not treat a setback or a mistake as a failure attempt, treat it as a learning experience.
February 14th, 2012 at 9:30 pm
Even with proper planning and even taking precautions, plans may not always go the way we want them to, and we usually call these times due to unforeseen circumstances. As the name suggests, it is unforeseen, no one could have seen it coming, and there is not much one can do to change the fact that it happened. All that matters at that point in time is that you fix the problem, take another route if needed, make things right and get the plan back on track. There is no point blaming oneself when things go wrong, what’s done is done, no turning back. Take a test for example. While you were taking the test, you feel very confident about it, thinking that you got all the questions right. After getting the test back, you find out that you made mistakes and you may feel disappointed in yourself, but since there’s no going back anymore, all you can do is to correct the mistakes, learn from them, and move on. Mistakes are made for a reason, for us to learn from them and make sure we do not make the same mistakes again.
February 20th, 2012 at 2:56 pm
More often than not, I do things that I think are right, only to realise I was wrong afterward. People tend to believe in what they do, until they’re proven that their actions are mistakes. Many factors can lead to a blunder. I feel that people should realise that it is not because they did not try hard enough or they did not put in their best effort. To err is human; our best could still possibly end up as a mistake. Instead of harping on the mistake made, I feel that it is more important is to realise our mistakes, learn from them, and rectify them.
February 21st, 2012 at 7:17 pm
Many a time I have said something I thought might be the right thing to say, but sometimes it turns out that it was the wrong thing to say. It is hard for people to fully understand each other, and this often leads to arguments, when one person misinterprets what is being said.
We always like to think that we do what is right, but we have to consider – is it right for US or for others? We should not be only thinking about ourselves, it is selfish. When we find out that we have made a mistake – no matter the good intentions – we should just accept it and apologise, and not argue and defend that we are correct – to do so only makes it worse for both parties. One of the hardest things to do is to bow down and admit, I am wrong and actually adhere to the other party’s thinking. But if we manage to do that, it will actually be for the better, resolving problems for both sides.
August 6th, 2012 at 3:16 am
I really love this. the very best article. I’m most definitely moving to put this in to use one of these kinds of times. I’ll be certainly te let you know if I do. Impressive work!