Investing In Mistakes

It was almost eight years ago when I began working full-time at a decent size church. Part of my job description included creating print collateral pieces (fliers, posters, handouts, etc.). To tell you the truth, I was in way over my head. I had never worked with a printer other than my personal inkjet. I knew nothing about commercial printing. Right out of the gate, I was delegated with three large print projects. These projects were to be sent out to a national mailing list, so excellence was priority. To make a long story short, I designed numerous things incorrectly and the prints came back pixelated. I also payed too much for printing, and I left important dates off the projects. It was an absolute train wreck for me.

I got poked fun at by some leaders in my district because of my date errors, however my pastor/boss was more than gracious enough to let me fail on his budget nickel.  The horror of not presenting perfection and having it sent across the US was better than any secular design school I could have attended. There were a few things that I decided to do following this dark beginning to my print design career.

1. I refused to make the same error twice by proof reading and checking printing specs
2. I committed to learn the process of commercial printing which led to many visits on my own time to tour local plants and interview production chiefs. This also found me spending hours in Barnes and Nobles reading up on design and printing.
3. I researched better printing solutions to save my church money rather than waste it on the most expensive options

These novice errors led to a continued self-education. My pastor did not get upset with me, but he invested in my mistakes. I cost him some dough at the beginning, but he didn’t stop me from continuing my job. In fact, he was very supportive and believed in me.

He taught me  that trusting those who are less experienced with important tasks in the church is scary, but necessary if we are to duplicate ourselves in ministry. This means we might give up some quality for a time, but with loving support and training, excellence will come in the long run. This doesn’t mean we should be unwise by placing unmotivated people in integral positions. It means we must search out people with initiative who want to learn. If they have a true heart for learning and passion for serving in their assigned ministry, the same process that happened to me will activate in them once they make mistakes.

In the years following, we made some awesome print pieces that reflected very well on our organization. Failure breeds awesome success. If you will have patience, support and train your novice volunteers even through their mistakes, you will have blissful excellence in the future. Don’t give up on someone who gets it wrong the first few tries, chances are they will take your place someday. Mistakes are more valuable than ten-fold success. Invest in your future by investing in your volunteer’s/emplyee’s mistakes.