If Your Team Never Fails, It Isn’t Learning

Harvard Business Review · Oct 21, 2026 · 7m

For leaders, building a high-performing team may require embracing something counterintuitive: failure. Ron Friedman, psychologist and author of "Superteams: The Science and Secrets of High-Performing Teams," argues that the best teams learn faster by treating experimentation, feedback, and innovation as core team habits.

Uploaded 10-06-26

Drawing on surveys of thousands of workers, he challenges leaders to let go of perfectionism and adopt a "progress mentality," where intelligent risk-taking is rewarded. For ambitious teams, the lesson is clear: if nothing ever fails, you're not pushing…