Some things I like about this post: - I like the topic, I am interested in failure and places where failure and mistake making is discussed openly feels more growthy. - I liked that you gave lots of examples.
Some things I didn’t like about this post: - Sometimes I couldn’t always see the full connections you were making, or I could but had to leap to them based on my own preconceptions, maybe they could be more explained? For example, a benefit was a stronger community, but you didn’t explain the mechanism by which that leads to a stronger community. I don’t think the Howie podcast supports the point, a lot of people liked the podcast, but how is that indicative of a stronger community exactly?
Things I disagree with in this post: - I don’t think the Opportunity Cost point was well argued. In particular, you discussed transparency in general, with examples of publishing annual reports and so on, which take a lot of time. However, this post is about being transparent about mistakes and failure, not transparency in general. I think the Opportunity Cost is much lower for just publishing big mistakes, even though it takes some time to word it properly, and then there is the stress of it. But you can choose simply not to look at reactions on social media. Same as people can choose not to engage in lengthy threads about it. - I think your Reputational Cost point was better on the other side as some of the reasons would put it there. Also, I just think this is somewhat a normative cultural question rather than one about facts in the world. If my reputation will be destroyed in an area for publishing a mistake, either that is a good thing, or the person judging is undervaluing the growth/learning part and overvaluing a fixed view of people. I basically don’t think someone who would incorrectly judge me negatively for publishing a mistake is worth me caring about the opinion of. Again, this is normative, not a fact about reality, it’s about what kind of culture we want to create. - Similar arguments to Reputational Cost apply to the Harming Discourse point—this is a normative culture question, we get to choose how we respond and whether we reward or disincentivise it! I would put it not as a risk/downside but in another category called cultural equilibrium or something, along with the reputation point. - I don’t think the Career Risk point is different to the Reputational Cost point in any meaningful way. You can also take more ownership as an organisation rather than an individual, where appropriate.
I recognise that the things I disagree with are all in the downsides/risks section, and that is because I am biased and uninterested in critiquing the other side. I feel somewhat entitled to do this because I’m under the impression that you added this section in after feedback to make it more balanced, so it’s partially because I’m being mischievous and unfair (you made this easier), as well as not wanting to feel pressure myself to give a balanced comment and wanting to protest against feeling constrained in that way.
Some things I like about this post:
- I like the topic, I am interested in failure and places where failure and mistake making is discussed openly feels more growthy.
- I liked that you gave lots of examples.
Some things I didn’t like about this post:
- Sometimes I couldn’t always see the full connections you were making, or I could but had to leap to them based on my own preconceptions, maybe they could be more explained? For example, a benefit was a stronger community, but you didn’t explain the mechanism by which that leads to a stronger community. I don’t think the Howie podcast supports the point, a lot of people liked the podcast, but how is that indicative of a stronger community exactly?
Things I disagree with in this post:
- I don’t think the Opportunity Cost point was well argued. In particular, you discussed transparency in general, with examples of publishing annual reports and so on, which take a lot of time. However, this post is about being transparent about mistakes and failure, not transparency in general. I think the Opportunity Cost is much lower for just publishing big mistakes, even though it takes some time to word it properly, and then there is the stress of it. But you can choose simply not to look at reactions on social media. Same as people can choose not to engage in lengthy threads about it.
- I think your Reputational Cost point was better on the other side as some of the reasons would put it there. Also, I just think this is somewhat a normative cultural question rather than one about facts in the world. If my reputation will be destroyed in an area for publishing a mistake, either that is a good thing, or the person judging is undervaluing the growth/learning part and overvaluing a fixed view of people. I basically don’t think someone who would incorrectly judge me negatively for publishing a mistake is worth me caring about the opinion of. Again, this is normative, not a fact about reality, it’s about what kind of culture we want to create.
- Similar arguments to Reputational Cost apply to the Harming Discourse point—this is a normative culture question, we get to choose how we respond and whether we reward or disincentivise it! I would put it not as a risk/downside but in another category called cultural equilibrium or something, along with the reputation point.
- I don’t think the Career Risk point is different to the Reputational Cost point in any meaningful way. You can also take more ownership as an organisation rather than an individual, where appropriate.
I recognise that the things I disagree with are all in the downsides/risks section, and that is because I am biased and uninterested in critiquing the other side. I feel somewhat entitled to do this because I’m under the impression that you added this section in after feedback to make it more balanced, so it’s partially because I’m being mischievous and unfair (you made this easier), as well as not wanting to feel pressure myself to give a balanced comment and wanting to protest against feeling constrained in that way.