Business Failures Anonymous started by professed 'failure'

This is an article from a US newspaper. It could be from any business coaching related blog or business advice forum. You may be surprised when you see the origin at the bottom of the article.

ARCADIA, Calif (AP) - Can a man talk himself out of failure? A 40-year old engineer who has failed himself, been jailed for drunkenness and spent the last 18 months in Alcoholics Anonymous thinks so.

In fact he started his own organization a few months ago, patterned after AA. It is called Business Failures Anonymous.

The founder, like all BFA members, insists on remaining anonymous.

He is soft spoken, the father of three, and a proprietor of a going engineering business. But he describes himself as a failure.

"I'm a self-made man and proud of it. But I can look back on a self-made career and find that I did a terrible job"

He and the members don't seek professional advice on how to achieve success. They probe for solutions within themselves. The meetings are devoted to frank conversation in which "the people try to find out where they went wrong."

The only requirement for membership: "The individual must show a desire to avoid failure in the future."

Ellensburg Daily Record - Jan 13, 1959

So, 1959! Early rumblings of self-help business coaching... plus ca change...