Harvard Business Review

If Your Team Never Fails, It Isn’t Learning

Harvard Business Review

Show Notes

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 10-06-26Drawing 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 hard enough, and you're probably falling behind.For more, check out Friedman's book: https://www.amazon.com/Superteams-Science-Secrets-High-Performing-Teams/dp/198218633X0:00 The three key strengths of superteams.1:47 Superteams conduct more experiments.2:52 Superteams give and receive more feedback.3:59 Superteams reward innovation (and failure).Books, tools, and more: store.hbr.orgFollow us:https://hbr.org/https://www.linkedin.com/company/harvard-business-review/https://www.facebook.com/HBR/https://twitter.com/HarvardBizhttps://www.instagram.com/harvard_business_reviewSign up for Newsletters: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters#HarvardBusinessReview #YourCareer #Career #Job #Work #Business #Harvard #HarvardBusinessSchool Copyright © 2026 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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