Learning from what went wrong

We usually want to learn from the best -- the perfect novelist, the triumphant quarterback, the most cogent genealogist. But sometimes we can learn more from things that didn't quite go right. I can understand basketball and chess strategy better from games played by high-schoolers than the pros.

That's the idea behind my article in the May issue of OnBoard, the newsletter of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, "Anatomy of a Failure: What I Learned from My First Portfolio," i.e., the one that came back unsuccessful in 2010.

OnBoard's slogan could be "not available in libraries," or at least I don't see it there. It comes out three times a year and anyone can subscribe for $15. Selected past articles are in the "Skillbuilding" portion of BCG's website. If you find them interesting, a subscription might be a good expenditure.