i have posted before that i am a big fan of the npr radio show “this american life.” i love the way they tell stories. two weeks ago (due to my recent backpacking trip with adam i’m a little behind on my podcast listening) they had to do a retraction of their previous story “mr. daisey goes to the apple factory.” the manner in which they did the retraction makes me like them all the more. instead of doing a small blurb that would probably remain hidden away unread, quietly removing the offending episode, and hoping the whole thing would just disappear they did an entire followup show explaining their failure, confronting the person whose story they had believed and reported, and delving into what the facts really are.
the manner in which they handled their failure makes me trust them all the more. i figure everyone makes mistakes. every person, every organization screws up every now and then. as a matter of fact, if you are looking for a church and one of the prime things you are looking for is a church an/or a pastor that almost never messes up … well … you might want to look at churches other than tapestry. i won’t say that tapestry messes up a lot but i know the pastor pretty well and let me just say that he has a rare talent for doing rather stupid things. just ask pam she can tell you how often it happens. anyhow, as i said every person, ever organization screws up every now and then. my question is “how to you handle it when you mess up?” do you own it? or do you try to hide/minimize it?
i trust people and groups that own it, try to correct it, and do their best to not make the same mistake next time. i believe that is what “this american life” did in this scenario and therefore my trust for them has increased greatly. which is saying something since i already trusted them a great deal.