Book cover of Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well

Book description

Shortlisted for the Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year

A revolutionary guide that will transform your relationship with failure, from the pioneering researcher of psychological safety and award-winning Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson.

We used to think of failure as the opposite of success. Now, we’re…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Right Kind of Wrong as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I haven’t always had a terribly healthy relationship with failure.

I was a perfectionist, who wanted to avoid being wrong, especially being publicly wrong, at any cost. My own journey to getting comfortable with failure took a long time and some pretty hard work, through building a practice of design thinking. If only I’d had Amy’s book to help me along the way!

Amy’s work is always thoughtful and inspiring, and this book builds on her essential thinking on psychological safety. Here, she lays out a helpful model for understanding good and bad failure, with a focus on reflection and…

This book changed our relationship with failure. We stopped seeing failure as something to avoid at all costs, an idea that was wired into us at a young age.

In our work with organizations, we’ve also observed that a willingness to experiment and “fail wisely,” in the author’s words, is part of the foundation for effective leadership. This book shows you how to take smart risks while preventing avoidable harms.

From Frances and Anne's list on fixing more (and breaking less) at work.

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