If Your Team Never Fails, It Isn’t Learning

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. 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 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