The big idea: why we need to learn to fail better
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/aug/28/the-big-idea-why-we-need-to-learn-to-fail-better
Amy Edmondson notes:
Intelligent failures are to be welcomed, because they point us forward towards eventual success. They shut down one path and force us to seek another. The category encompasses wildly different phenomena, ranging from, say, a tedious blind date to the failed clinical trial of a promising new treatment. People who design clinical trials minimise the risks as much as possible. But there is no way to ensure it all works out before the trial is launched. The same can be said of that blind date.
Many of today’s medical miracles – such as open-heart surgery to repair diseased vessels and valves – were once the impossible dreams of pioneers. Without their willingness to tolerate and learn from intelligent failures along the way, most of the life-saving advances we now take for granted would not exist.
Amy Edmondson notes:
Intelligent failures are to be welcomed, because they point us forward towards eventual success. They shut down one path and force us to seek another. The category encompasses wildly different phenomena, ranging from, say, a tedious blind date to the failed clinical trial of a promising new treatment. People who design clinical trials minimise the risks as much as possible. But there is no way to ensure it all works out before the trial is launched. The same can be said of that blind date.
Many of today’s medical miracles – such as open-heart surgery to repair diseased vessels and valves – were once the impossible dreams of pioneers. Without their willingness to tolerate and learn from intelligent failures along the way, most of the life-saving advances we now take for granted would not exist.