Syed argues that the most important determinant of success in any field is an acknowledgment of failure and a willingness to engage with it. Yet most of us are stuck in a relationship with failure that impedes progress, halts innovation, and damages our careers and personal lives. We rarely acknowledge or learn from failure—even though we often claim the opposite. We think we have 20/20 hindsight, but our vision is usually fuzzy. Syed draws on a wide range of sources—from anthropology and psychology to history and complexity theory—to explore the subtle but predictable patterns of human error and our defensive responses to error. He also shares fascinating stories of individuals and organizations that have successfully embraced a black box approach to improvement, such as David Beckham, the Mercedes F1 team, and Dropbox.--FROM PUBLISHER

Includes index.

The logic of failure. A routine operation ; United Airlines 173 ; The paradox of success -- Cognitive dissonance. Wrongful convictions ; Intellectual contortions ; Reforming criminal justice -- Confronting complexity. The nozzle paradox ; Scared straight? -- Small steps and giant leaps. Marginal gains ; How failure drives innovation -- The blame game. Libyan Arab Airlines flight 114 ; The second victim -- Creating a growth culture. The Beckham effect ; Redefining failure -- Coda : The big picture.