Failing well

“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” 
– Amy Edmondson, The Right Kind of Wrong

What if failure wasn’t just inevitable but essential for success?

In her latest book, The Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well, Amy Edmondson explores how embracing failure can transform organizations—but only when psychological safety is present.

The book introduces 3 types of failure: preventable, complex, and intelligent. While preventable failures are signs of poor planning, complex failures often result from systemic issues, and intelligent failures occur when teams take calculated risks in the pursuit of innovation.

Edmondson argues that the key to learning from any type of failure lies in creating environments where individuals feel safe to admit mistakes, share lessons, and iterate toward improvement.

For talent development professionals, this message is clear: fostering psychological safety isn’t just about helping teams feel good—it’s about unlocking their full potential. By reframing failure as a learning opportunity, we enable growth, creativity, and resilience.

Contact us or talk to your Advantage partner about how we can help your organization strengthen its psychological safety.

One great thing for 01.14.25 – We partnered with thought leaders at BlueEQ™ to create a mini learning journey that can help you boost the 3 skills most critical to the psychological safety behind all winning cultures.