The Best Laid Plans

It’s 2012, and we’re in a quiet church in a quiet town in Spain. Cecilia Giménez has decided to restore a 19th-century fresco of Jesus, known as "Ecce Homo” (“Behold the Man”). Much effort and patience were required; restoration is an intensive, exhausting, careful process.

Here is the end result of all that work.

The Guardian

Despite her most sincere attempt and a great deal of hard work, the restoration garnered worldwide attention, but for its catastrophic failure. It has since been affectionately dubbed "Monkey Christ" or “Behold the Monkey.”

Monkey Christ represents the Law of Unintended Consequences: actions almost always have effects that are unanticipated or unintended. These outcomes can be good or bad, but they are all unforeseen, and they often arise as a result of things we can’t anticipate.

Today, let’s take a look at how the best-laid plans can go hilariously or horribly wrong. It serves as a cautionary tale for us all: sometimes our well-meant efforts to improve or innovate…