THE GIFT OF PROBLEMS: IT’S COMMON

Wisdom Nuggets: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man...’’

Luck Is For Heaven

The first law of PROBLEMS is this: “They are common’’ or not ‘’ beyond the course of what others have had to face’’. Once you settle that within you then there is nothing to be ashamed of. Never be ashamed to admit it and to say ‘’I was wrong’’ when you make  a mistake or encounter a problem.
In Charles Colson's book Born Again, which details his experiences related to Watergate, Colson shares one of President Nixon's problems - he could never admit he was wrong in anything. In fact, Colson says, even when Nixon obviously had a cold - nose running, face red, sneezing, all the symptoms - he would never admit it.

When New York's Citicorp tower was completed in 1977, it was the seventh tallest building in the world. Many structural engineers hailed the tower for its technical elegance and singular grace. The tower was notable for its sleek aluminum sides and provocative slash-topped design. The structural engineer who designed the steel superstructure was William J. LeMessurier, who not long after the building was completed, was elected into the National Academy of Engineering, which is the highest honor his profession bestows.
But one year after the building opened, LeMessurier came to a frightening realization. The Citicorp tower was flawed. Without LeMessurier's approval, during construction the joints in the steel superstructure had been bolted, which is a common and acceptable practice, but does not make for as strong a joint as welding does. Also, he had not taken into account the extra force of a non-perpendicular wind.

He talked with meteorologists and found that a wind strong enough to buckle that crucial joint came every sixteen years in New York. So he did what he had to do. He informed all concerned. City and corporate leaders faced the problem in a professional manner, and plans were drawn to strengthen the joints by welding steel plates to them. Contingency plans were made to ensure people's safety during the work, and the welding began in August of 1978.
After the work was completed three months later, the building was strong enough to withstand a storm of the severity that hits New York only once every seven hundred years. In fact it was now one of the safest structures ever built.
LeMessurier's career and reputation were not destroyed but enhanced. One engineer commended LeMessurier for being a man who had the courage to say, "I got a problem; I made the problem; let's fix the problem." - Craig Brian Larson. Remember, whatever is the problem, you are not alone. It is COMMON.