Discovery stories don’t end with failure; failures are stepping stones on the way to success.

Our aversion to our failures also leaves us vulnerable to feelings of relief when someone else fails.

had no idea how to study this, nor how to contribute to changing how organizations worked.

Even when the stakes are low, the blame-dodging reflex thwarts learning.

Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm. —Winston Churchill

define failure as an outcome that deviates from desired results, whether that be failing to win a hoped-for gold medal, an oil tanker spilling thousands of tons of raw oil into the ocean instead of arriving safely in a harbor, a start-up that dives downward, or overcooking the fish meant for dinner. In short, failure is a lack of success.

We have more trouble letting go of bad compared to good thoughts. We remember the negative things that happen to us more vividly and for longer than we do the positive ones.

One of the most important strategies for avoiding complex failures is emphasizing a preference for speaking up openly and quickly in your family, team, or organization.

Trial and error is a common term for the kind of experimentation needed in these settings, but it’s a misnomer. Error implies that there was a “right” way to do it in the first place. Intelligent failures are not errors.