There are many paths to success, the least-trod being mistake-free.  Success, indeed, is always an option once a mistake has been made.  To wit, Staples drops off the wrong filing cabinet, sends a replacement the next day but fails to collect the original for 4 days.  A follow-up phone call yields first one then a second driver stopping by to remove the orphaned cabinet.  Call it the equivalent of a Staples 'all points bulletin'.

Such earnest effort to correct an mistake serves as a simple reminder: to err is human; to correct and recover requires good intention and even better execution.

In April I have the privilege of joining a panel discussion at the Residential Design and Construction Conference on "Delivering a no-regrets project".  Since the construction industry does not embrace the 'beta version' model available to others, we contractors have to work constantly to refine, improve and fix systems and procedures that prove inadequate, in real time. 

I think our house painters could teach those programmers a thing or two.