It’s common knowledge: nobody’s perfect. Yet we’re still reluctant to own up to our imperfections. We know these character flaws exist, yet we seem to go along hoping that no one ever calls us out on them. This doesn’t seem like a winning strategy. You would never hear Sun Tzu say: “let’s just wing it, they probably won’t bring it up.”
This is why it was so refreshing to see Mistakes as a page on the GiveWell website. They openly address the fact that they’re not experts in everything (who is?), and document their missteps and lessons learned over the years. Instead of leaving bad reviews solely to Google, GiveWell engages their community in an open and honest dialogue. In doing so they gain credibility and make their naysayers job just a little more difficult. Kudos.
