(i) very supportive of taking on things that are ex ante good ideas, but carry significant risk of failing altogether, and
(ii) good at praising these decisions after they have turned out to fail.
It doesn’t totally remove the sting to have those around you say “Great job taking that risk, it was the right decision and the EV was good!” and really mean it, but I do find that it helps, and it’s a habit I’m trying to build to praise these kinds of things after the fact as much as I praise big successes.
Of course there is some tension; often, if a thing fails to produce value, it’s useful to figure out how we could have anticipated that failure, and why it might not have been the right decision ex ante. Balance, I guess.
I’ve often found the EAs around me to be
(i) very supportive of taking on things that are ex ante good ideas, but carry significant risk of failing altogether, and
(ii) good at praising these decisions after they have turned out to fail.
It doesn’t totally remove the sting to have those around you say “Great job taking that risk, it was the right decision and the EV was good!” and really mean it, but I do find that it helps, and it’s a habit I’m trying to build to praise these kinds of things after the fact as much as I praise big successes.
Of course there is some tension; often, if a thing fails to produce value, it’s useful to figure out how we could have anticipated that failure, and why it might not have been the right decision ex ante. Balance, I guess.