When we prefer the seeming stability of stories to the messy reality of uncertainty, facts become dispensable and misinformation thrives. Fake news is not a modern phenomenon. Between a good story and a bunch of data, the story has always prevailed. These mentally vivid images strike a deep, lasting chord known as the narrative fallacy. We remember

This advice is particularly important for leaders. People pay close attention to the leader’s behavior since they depend on the leader for recognition.77 Studies also show that people look to the leader to initiate change.78 If leaders fail to acknowledge their failures—if there’s a perception that the leader can do no wrong—it’s unrealistic to

Doing anything groundbreaking requires taking risks, and taking risks means you’re going to fail—at least some of the time. “There’s a silly notion that failure’s not an option at NASA,” Elon Musk says. “Failure is an option here [at SpaceX]. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.”9 It’s only when we reach into the unknown and

“I’ve come from behind too often,” the great tennis champion Andre Agassi writes, “and had too many opponents come roaring back against me, to think that’s a good idea.”35 The opening doesn’t have to be grand, as long as the finale is.

We need the idealism of divergent thinking to be followed by the pragmatism of convergent thinking.

Charlie Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, is a major proponent of this idea. “You’re not entitled to take a view,” he cautions, “unless and until you can argue better against that view than the smartest guy who holds that opposite view.”

“When you see a good move, don’t make it immediately. Look for a better one.”

it can be just as dangerous to celebrate success as it is to celebrate failure, and I’ll reveal why a postmortem should follow both triumph and defeat.

Ego and hubris are part of the problem. The other part is the human…

Some highlights have been hidden or truncated due to export limits.