Lean Quote: A Lesson in Faith From Charlie Brown’s Great Pumpkin

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."   —  H. P. Lovecraft

"On Halloween night, the Great Pumpkin rises out of his pumpkin patch and flies through the air with his bag of toys for all the children!"

Charlie Brown has been an iconic figure for over 60 years. In 1966, viewers across the country tuned in as “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” premiered on television.

If you’re not familiar with “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” here is a brief summary: Instead of going trick-or-treating, Linus waits in excited anticipation in the "most sincere" pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin to arrive, but receives only disappointment. It doesn’t end any better for the other characters either. Sally misses "tricks-or-treats" and Charlie Brown is stuck with a bag full of rocks. So what lesson can we learn from this?

A group of optimistic young people are placing their faith in things that consistently disappoint them. That’s a relatable theme, isn’t it? But what keeps us coming back year after year when the show ends on such a low?

Charles M. Schulz, its creator, said it best: "Linus represents a special quality of hope and belief, against all odds." This, along with Charlie Brown’s unwavering ability to bounce back from failure, seems to resonate with young and old alike.

So in the spirit of Halloween this year, let’s take a self-inventory. Who might you be if you were one of the characters? Do you bounce back easily? Do you have unwavering hope?

Wherever you fit, perhaps a lesson from the Peanuts gang might do us all a bit of good.