To err is human. In today’s episode, we will discuss the science behind learning to fail, in other words: “failing well”. We will discuss our flawed relationship to failure, how to better understand failure, and how to learn from failure. I am joined by Amy Edmondson, the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School. For the last 2 decades, she has studied the elements of high-performing teams in complex environments. She has coined the term “psychological safety” and has made critical insights into teaming, learning from failure, and innovation. She is the author of several books and multiple academic papers and a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review. Her latest book “Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well”, was released in September of this year on hardback.

Additional Resource:

Right Kind of Wrong. The Science of Failing Well. By Amy Edmondson: https://www.amazon.com/Right-Kind-Wrong-Science-Failing-ebook/dp/B0BTZT9CXV#:~:text=In%20Right%20Kind%20of%20Wrong,from%20flubs%20of%20all%20stripes

Critical Matters podcast episode – The Fearless ICU, a discussion with Amy Edmondson on Psychological safety and teaming: https://soundphysicians.com/podcast-episode/?podcast_id=342&track_id=1220843524

Faculty page for Amy Edmondson. A great jumping point to her vast body of work: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/AmyEdmondson

Strategies for Learning from Failure. By A. Edmondson. Harvard Business Review 2011: https://hbr.org/2011/04/strategies-for-learning-from-failure

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure. By Tim Hartford: https://shorturl.at/mpQU1

Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error. By Kathryn Shulz: https://shorturl.at/qAHJ0

Principles: Life and Work. By Ray Dalio: https://shorturl.at/JRSZ1