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The intention was:

Columbus’s goal was to find a faster trade route to the Far East.

The course of action was:

The Italian explorer left nothing to chance. He organized – finally in Spain – sponsorship for his voyage, and made sure he had the best ships and crew available at that time.

The result was:

Columbus’s mission was essentially a failure; he did not achieve his original goal of making the Far East markets more accessible. Instead of reaching the Far East he discovered an unknown continent.

The lesson was:

The ‘discovery’ of America was not only a fascinating experience for Columbus, but also inspired countless others. A brilliant failure that is one of the most well know ‘success’ stories of all time!

Further:

Columbus was not the only explorer around those times who ‘discovered’ something completely different that what they had initially intended. In addition to North America, South America was also discovered by ‘accident’ – this time by the Spanish explorer Vicente Pinzon. His intention was to further explore the Caribbean, but instead he landed on the shores of Brazil.