Human Error and Leadership

Human error

Amy Edmondson’s Right Kind of Wrong explores how failure, instead of being something to fear, can actually help teams and organizations grow. While we’re often taught to avoid mistakes, Edmondson—a well-known expert in leadership and management—argues that failure, when handled wisely, can spark learning, innovation, and progress. This summary will show how understanding different types of failure and creating a culture where people feel safe to take risks can unlock real value from things going wrong.

Why Learning from Failure Matters

In today’s world of constant change and fast decisions, being able to learn from what doesn’t work is vital. Take, for example, a pharmaceutical company that spent a fortune developing a new drug, only for it to fail during trials. Rather than hiding the failure or punishing those involved, the company examined the process carefully. They discovered a flaw in their research approach, corrected it, and eventually produced a successful medication. This story shows how failures can teach us important lessons and help us get better.

But learning from failure doesn’t just happen on its own. It requires the right mindset and the right environment. People need to feel safe enough to take smart risks, try new things, and be honest when something doesn’t work out. Pixar is a great example of this. Their teams share early drafts and incomplete work, which leads to feedback, improvement, and ultimately, better films. By encouraging trial and error, they’ve built a system that keeps creativity flowing and helps people stay engaged in their work—even when ideas don’t immediately succeed.

A Personal Note on Human Error

When I was studying psychology, I was fascinated by James Reason’s work on human error. His insights have stayed with me, and they complement Edmondson’s ideas in powerful ways.

First, Reason showed that we must look at behavior on multiple levels. Errors aren’t just about individual lapses—they often stem from systemic flaws. Major disasters like the Challenger explosion, the Herald of Free Enterprise tragedy, and the nuclear accidents at Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and Fukushima all involved both individual decisions and deeply embedded structural issues. From everyday actions to system design, human behavior is always at play.

Second, even the best-designed systems can’t eliminate risk entirely. We can build safeguards and error-resistant processes, but there’s always a human element that remains unpredictable. People still take shortcuts, misuse equipment, or lose focus—especially in high-stakes environments. No safety net is ever foolproof.

Third, the social context around behavior matters. Culture, relationships, and team climate shape how people act. In the Challenger case, for example, an engineer warned about low temperatures affecting the shuttle’s rubber seals. But rather than being heard, he was told to think like a manager, not an engineer. That moment, like so many others in high-risk fields, was shaped not just by data but by power dynamics and organizational culture.

Finally, leadership is the critical piece. When leaders fail to manage the tension between safety and performance, they heighten the risks embedded in any system. The way leaders handle pressure and competing goals ultimately determines whether a system leans toward resilience or collapse.

Creating Psychological Safety

For failure to become a learning tool, psychological safety is essential. This means people need to feel they won’t be judged, blamed, or punished for being honest, making mistakes, or offering unfinished ideas. In a workplace without this kind of safety, team members might stay silent or play it safe—even when they have great ideas or see potential issues.

Leaders play a major role in shaping this kind of environment. When managers admit their own missteps, ask genuine questions, and welcome different points of view, they send a strong message: it’s okay to speak up. They can go even further by recognizing and appreciating “smart” failures—ones that come from well-thought-out efforts to do something new. Google’s well-known “20% time,” where employees work on personal passion projects, has led to big innovations like Gmail and AdSense. That kind of freedom to explore wouldn’t be possible without trust and support from leadership.

Psychological safety doesn’t happen overnight. It needs consistent effort and clear signals from those in charge. But when people feel safe and heard, they’re more likely to contribute fully, take initiative, and collaborate openly—all of which fuel success.

Not All Failures Are Equal

A big part of using failure wisely is knowing that they don’t all come from the same place. There’s a range—from careless or irresponsible mistakes (which need correction) to thoughtful attempts to improve something (which deserve praise). For instance, if someone ignores safety rules and causes an accident, that’s a failure that needs accountability. But if a team tries a new coding method that doesn’t work, they’ve still taken a productive risk.

Between these two ends of the spectrum are many kinds of failures that result from system issues, unclear communication, or just bad luck. These cases call for careful review to find out what happened and how to avoid repeating it. Organizations can create clear definitions of different types of failure, helping everyone understand how to respond appropriately.

Teams should also have a process for reviewing failures—such as post-mortem meetings where everyone involved can openly talk through what went wrong. These sessions should focus on learning, not blaming. The insights from these reviews should be shared broadly, not kept within one group. Creating a shared resource for failure stories and learnings can help others avoid the same mistakes and try new approaches with more confidence.

Finally, it’s important to reward people who approach failure with curiosity and openness. Whether it’s highlighting a team’s smart experiment that didn’t work out or including learning from failure as part of performance reviews, recognizing this mindset can help reinforce a culture of growth and improvement.

How to Build a Learning Culture

Turning failure into fuel for success takes structure and commitment. One proven method is the post-mortem review—a meeting that happens after a project or experiment fails. In these reviews, everyone involved shares their views, looks for root causes, and identifies lessons. The focus is not on who messed up, but on what can be done differently next time.

Another key strategy is encouraging smart risk-taking. It might seem strange to welcome failure, but when people are allowed to test new ideas in a thoughtful way, they’re more likely to find something that works in the long run. The important thing is that these experiments are guided by clear goals and measurements. When something fails, teams should celebrate what they’ve learned rather than just moving on.

Organizations should also set up ways to spread knowledge across teams. Often, one team learns something valuable but keeps it to themselves. That’s a missed opportunity. Creating platforms where different departments can share their failures and insights can help others work smarter. Let’s say the tech team runs into a delay with a product launch. If they explain what happened and how they solved it, marketing and sales can prepare better and reduce friction later on.

Storytelling is another powerful tool. People remember stories better than facts and figures. When employees talk about their failures and what they learned, it helps others relate, reflect, and remember. Encouraging these stories—through meetings, newsletters, or internal talks—can build a shared learning culture.

Feedback, Dialogue, and Growth

Imagine a team meeting where a leader opens up about something that didn’t go as planned. Instead of getting defensive or brushing it off, the team leans in, asks questions, and discusses how to avoid similar problems. They write down what they learned and use it to guide future work. This kind of honest, curious, and supportive response to failure strengthens both the team and the outcomes they produce.

In this kind of workplace, taking smart risks is rewarded, not punished. Feedback about failure is part of regular conversations—not just during crisis moments. Managers check in regularly, and teammates offer each other ideas and help when things don’t go well. Organizations can bake this approach into formal processes, like performance reviews that include learning from failure as a success measure. Some even host events where people talk about what didn’t work—and what they learned from it.

The result? More innovation, smarter decisions, and more engaged employees. When people feel their ideas matter—even if they don’t always hit the mark—they’re more likely to take ownership, speak up, and keep striving to do better.

Yes, building this kind of culture requires effort. Leaders need to rethink how they respond to mistakes and setbacks. But with the right mindset and systems, failure can go from being something people fear to a key part of your organization’s ability to learn and succeed.

The Big Idea

Amy Edmondson’s central message is this: Treat failure as a learning opportunity, not a threat. By creating psychological safety, understanding the different types of failure, and adopting practices like post-mortems and open feedback, leaders can build a culture where people take smart risks, share what they learn, and grow stronger from what doesn’t work. In the end, this approach helps organizations become more creative, resilient, and successful.

Photo Credit: David Ducheyne