Professional Organization and Leadership Development
We give you the tools to think outside the box and a path to creative problem solving. Contact Us Today
Leadership Development
Conduct Leadership Training & Developmental Programs, Assess organization’s training needs, Develop training curriculum based upon an organization’s training needs assessment, Deliver quality training on-site
Technical Assistance
Technical Assistance MBA team can: Conduct Organizational Needs Assessment Projects Facilitate an organization’s visioning and goal setting projects Facilitate organizational performance reviews
Our Team
Our team consists of individuals with a wide variety of experiences including developing and delivering quality staff development services for staff at all levels of an organization, coordinating human resource services and more.

The Value of Failing
The Value of Failing
Have you ever failed at anything? How did you feel about that experience? Did it make you want to give up? If so, you need to adjust the way you look at failure. As pointed out by Henry Petroski, professor of engineering and history at Duke University, “The biggest misperception people have about failure is that it is all bad.”
Albert Einstein once said, “You never fail until you stop trying.”
If you look at the lives of many of America’s heroes, you will find that they were unsuccessful in their earlier years. The biographies of Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson are classic examples of this.
Lincoln is unquestionably one of the greatest leaders this country has ever had; however, prior to being elected president in 1860, he had a number of failures, including losing his job, failing in business, losing eight campaigns for public office, and suffering numerous rejections by colleagues and constituents.
While Edison was attempting to create the electric light bulb and experiment after experiment was unsuccessful, someone called him a failure. He retorted, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
The difference between the people who accomplish things in their lives and those who see unsuccessful attempts at a task as failure is that the first group does not forget the lessons learned in their formative years.
A young child fails many times before he accomplishes the task of locomotion. The child first scoots, then crawls, then walks and even in the process of learning to walk, the child falls many times before he learns to walk.
As parents, we do not discourage a child from attempting to walk just because he or she falls. We know that eventually the child will gain the skills necessary to accomplish the task.
Somewhere along the line, however, many people began to view “failure” as all bad. They forget the lessons learned from early childhood about not giving up. We are all going to fail at some time in our life. Making mistakes is a part of the process.
Theodore Roosevelt said, “The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.” Joseph Conrad said, “It’s only those who do nothing that make no mistakes.”
We need to realize that failing at something does not make us a failure unless we give up.
Great leaders understand that failure is symbiotic with learning. That is what caused Michael Jordan to say, “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
In his article, Failing Your Way to Business Success, entrepreneur, investor and sales strategist, Graham Dockrill, points out:
You will find that the most successful people in life have failed the most times. If you welcome failure as a guide and teacher, you’re more likely to find your way to success. Secondly, when you and your business are driven by discovery, you take a step forward, gather feedback and adapt.
The things that we get from failure that give it value are:
Failure Builds Character – There is a lesson to be learned from everything that happens to us and that includes failing. One of the greatest benefit earned from failure is strength of character. Failure hurts. It causes us to reexamine our action. If life were perfect and every endeavor ended in success, we would not learn as much – failure teaches us more about ourselves and builds character better than success ever could.
Failure Provides Learning Opportunities – Early educational reformer John Dewey said it best: “Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes.”
As Edison’s quote about “finding 10,000 ways that won’t work” demonstrates, there is value in examining why we were not successful in our attempts to do something. In an earlier column I mentioned Fred Rangel telling me about a situation which I do not recall. He said that I looked at him and said, “Okay, you paid your tuition. What did you learn?” Every failure should be viewed as an opportunity to learn.
I believe we waste a golden opportunity when we do not learn from our failures.
Failure Teaches Resiliency and Persistency – We need to remember the lessons of childhood when we did not know the meaning of failure and kept on trying until we learned to walk. As Thomas A. Edison emphasized “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” That is a valuable lesson to learn.
Rather than give up when he did not make the Laney high school basketball team’s varsity squad, Michael Jordan dedicated himself to becoming a better player.
Failure Promotes Growth – When our failures lead to know-ledge and persistence we grow. We reach deeper meanings and understandings about ourselves and our organizations and why we do the things we do. This helps us to reflect and put things into perspective and develop meaning from painful situations. Growth allows us to eliminate the errors and create streamlined processes in our organization’s culture.
My favorite philosopher (Anonymous) is quoted as saying, “Failure is life’s great teacher; it is nature’s chisel that chips away at all the excess, stripping down egos as it molds and shapes us through divine intentions.”
Since we know everyone fails at something and since failure builds our character, provides learning opportunities, teaches resiliency and persistency, and promotes growth, why should we fear it.
If our “failures” lead to learning a better way of doing something, was the experience really a failure or an opportunity to learn a better way of doing it?
As Winston Churchill has pointed out, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.”
That is why I now say about myself, “I have never failed at anything; but I have certainly had a tremendous number of never-to-be-repeated learning experiences.”
If you want to be a great leader, go out and fail your way to success.
Testimonials
All supervisors should attend this training.
“All supervisors, new and veteran, should attend this training. Mel Brown missed nothing.” ~~Tariq Raza, Smith County Juvenile Services
One of the best
“I enjoyed this class. I did 21 years in the Army and have been through numerous classes like this and I will say this is one of the best.” ~~ Larry Day, McLennan County CSCD.
Tariq came into my office this morning
“Tariq came into my office this morning and quoted you on a number of things he took from your training. I’m sure others took to heart many fine points from your presentation.” ~~ Tony Carvajal, Special Projects Coordinator, Smith County Juvenile Services.
“Thanks for all the insight and motivation you are providing.”
“Hi Dr. B,
“Happy Tuesday! After your class last week, I asked the management team in the Wharton office to have a short meeting on Thursday morning. Linda, Brad, Rebecca, and I met to discuss the class. All of them are very pleased with it, and I can tell a HUGE difference in how they respond to questions and how they address and approach a variety of matters. Their enthusiasm towards the department seems to be renewed. . .
“I’m so very excited about this. We made some plans to move the department forward and are going to have regularly scheduled management team meetings like this one
“I asked them about further topics for the class, and all agreed that they want to learn as much as possible about handling toxic employees and their behaviors
“Thanks for all the insight and motivation you are providing!”
~~ Roxane Marek, Director, Wharton and Matagorda Counties (Tx) Community Supervision and Corrections Department
The Final Product is a Meaningful Document
“The program evaluation process performed by MBA for our facilities was very thorough and spoke to all the organizational needs I wanted addressed. Mel, Jeff and Bill were easy to work with and very professional in dealing with our staff and juveniles. The final product is a meaningful document that is straight forward and easy to understand.” — Homer Flores, Chief Juvenile Probation, Nueces County Juvenile Probation Department, Corpus Christi, Texas
When you need help or advice
“When you need help or advice, it’s always smart to turn to an expert whose broad knowledge, experience and professional objectivity will serve your management and treatment staff, as well as the young men in your care. WE did this when we hired you.” –Jane O’Shaunessy,, Cornerstone Programs, Inglewood, Colorado
Excellent Training
“The training your company provides is excellent. Regardless of who from company does the training, it is always quality training.” –Melinda Wilson, Gregg County Community Supervision and Corrections Department, Longview, Texas
Quality Training
“All supervisors at all ranks should participate in this class.”–David Dottei, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Conroe, Texas
Professional
“Mel is the consummate professional. He is meticulous in detail. He excels in management coaching and leadership training. He has great insight into systems theory and quality control techniques.”–Mike Griffiths, Former Director, Texas Juvenile Justice Department
I trust Mel
“Mel is someone that will support my leadership in my absence. I trust him to train and develop our staff and clients. Mel will deliver in relationships and results. I highly recommend Mel for your next project.” –Joe Gonzalez, President, The Management Connection
I recommend his services and knowledge to anyone
“I’ve known and worked with Mel concerning criminal justice for many years and would recommend his services and knowledge to anyone that is in need of correct progressive answers and always with integrity. Tommy Warren, T Warren Investments, The Woodlands, Texas
Thorough
“The program evaluation process performed by MBA for our facilities was very thorough and spoke to all the organizational needs I wanted addressed. Mel, Jeff and Bill were easy to work with and very professional in dealing with our staff and juveniles. The final product is a meaningful document that is straight forward and easy to understand.”–Homer Flores, Chief Probation Officer, Nueces County Juvenile Probation Department, Corpus Christ, Texas
MBA did all that was asked of them
“MBA did all that was asked of them. They provided sound advice and recommendations to follow up on.”–Steve Henderson, Director, Lubbock County Community Supervision and Corrections Department, Lubbock Texas.
MBA was really great
Our experience with MBA was really great. You asked good questions at the beginning of the process to help us better defined exactly what we wanted and then you worked with us to give us that. You responded to our needs. You were willing to be on site when needed. The end product was user friendly. The manual you provided for the system was excellent. The training you provided us on how to use the performance appraisal tool was also extremely beneficial. While we know we were not your only client, you treated us like we were.” –Dave Johnson, Wichita County Community Supervision and Corrections Department, Wichita Falls, Tex
Training MBA provides is excellent
“The training your company provides is excellent. Regardless of who from your company does the training, it is always quality training.” –Melinda Wilson, Director Gregg County Community Supervision and Corrections Department
I think what you do is amazing!!!!
“I think what you do is amazing!!!! And you absolutely lit a fire under me!!! Thank you!!!” ~~Lisa Willis Calhoun, Free Lance Artist, Woodland, California