Right Kind of Wrong

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

psychological safety helps people take the interpersonal risks that are necessary for achieving excellence in a fast-changing, interdependent world. When people work in psychologically safe contexts, they know that questions are appreciated, ideas are welcome, and errors and failure are discussable.

In these environments, people can focus on the work without being tied up in knots about what others might think of them. They know that being wrong won’t be a fatal blow to their reputation.

Andy quoted the nurses as saying such things as a “certain level of error will occur” so a “nonpunitive environment” is essential to good patient care.

resilient people make more positive attributions about events than those who become anxious or depressed.

I believe that part of successfully navigating failure to reap its rewards—and, importantly, to avoid the wrong kinds of failure as often as possible—starts with understanding that not all failures are created equal.

Failing well is hard for three reasons: aversion, confusion, and fear. Aversion refers to an instinctive emotional response to failure. Confusion arises when we lack access to a simple, practical framework for distinguishing failure types. Fear comes from the social stigma of failure.

Left to our own devices, we will speed through or avoid failure analysis altogether.

helping people and organizations learn so they can thrive in a world that keeps changing.