Seven Lessons Learned from George Donner:

Listen to cautions: Be careful not to miss wisdom because it is not what you want to hear.  George Donner had experts telling him that his plan was doomed before he set out.  Others, along the trail, confirmed his misguided path.  Thousands of years ago the richest and wisest man who had ever lived espoused the virtues of “having many advisors.”  In the end, we have to make our own decision, but advice that opposes our plans needs to be considered.

Seven Lessons Learned from George Donner:

The shortest path between two points is rarely a straight line:  While this may not be true in geometry and track, it is true for everything else in life.  If you have lived long enough to look back on your progress from one point to another, you will quickly see that it is never a straight line.  The path to the next important thing isn’t completely under our control.  It is like the sailor who charts his course and waits and observes the telltales (little strips of cloth tied to the sale that give him an indication of where the next wind will come from).  Just like a sailboat tact’s, we too turn left, then right, on the way to our goal.

Seven Lessons Learned from George Donner:

Don’t do anything important in a hurry:  Since my earliest years I have tried to do everything fast.  I remember my father praising me for how quickly I could get things done.  I have learned, however, that there can be a cost to being lightning fast.  That cost comes in overlooking something important and in diminished quality.  For Donner and his companions, those 400 miles saved actually prolonged the trip for the few that made it to California.  In their case, being in a hurry - in the end - delayed them.