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Spiritual Bookshelf Episode 60 :How to Fail the Right Way and Snatch Victory from Defeat ?– Part 3

飛利浦 Phillip

Hi friends, how’s your week going?

Welcome back to the show — I’m Phillip.

Today we’re continuing our conversation about a book I’ve really come to love recently.

It ‘s a book called Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well.

How can we face mistakes in a scientific way?

In the book, she explains things like:

              •Which kinds of mistakes are acceptable — even worth encouraging

→ That’s what she calls intelligent failures

              •How teams can build psychological safety, so people dare to speak up and admit errors

              •How to learn from mistakes systematically, instead of hiding them, feeling ashamed, or running away

In other words, she’s trying to help us turn mistakes from shame

into fuel for growth

Ray Dalio is the founder of Bridgewater Associates, one of the biggest hedge funds in the world.

Back in 1982, he made a massive mistake. At that time, he was absolutely convinced that the U.S. economy was about to go into a Great Depression–level collapse. He testified in front of Congress, he went on TV, he wrote reports, he gave interviews — and he was extremely confident.

And then… the exact opposite happened. The U.S. economy rebounded strongly. The stock market went up, interest rates went down.

His prediction was not just a little bit off — it was completely wrong.

Because of this mistake:Bridgewater was basically on the edge of bankruptcy.

And it was in that painful, humiliating moment that his life took a completely different turn.

 How did he get back up? Four key moves

1️⃣ First: He admitted he might be wrong

2️⃣ Second: He built a “believability-weighted decision” system

Three lessons we can take from Dalio’s story

(1) Big mistakes can tear down our blind spots

If that collapse had never happened, he might never have realized how dangerous his own confidence could be.

(2) Growth is not about avoiding mistakes

Real growth looks more like this:

Mistake → Reflection → Build a system → Avoid repeating the same mistake

It’s not “never fail.” It’s “don’t waste your failures.”

(3)Pain + Reflection = Progress

 Why are “intelligent failures” necessary?

If you want to: grow, innovate, expand your life

then you must allow yourself to experience intelligent failures.

Intelligent failure doesn’t mean being careless or incompetent.

It means: you’re willing to step into the unknown, and you design small, controlled experiments to gain new understanding.

She says:“Intelligent failure is the basic cost of exploring the unknown.”

Four conditions of intelligent failure

Edmondson lists four key elements.

A failure only counts as intelligent if it fits these conditions.

✔ (1) You’re exploring the unknown

✔ (2) You have a clear intention and a hypothesis

✔ (3) It’s small-scale, low-risk, and controllable

✔ (4) It brings back insight

Edmondson says: “An intelligent failure isn’t really a failure. It’s an action designed to collect information.”

How can you use intelligent failure in your life?

Ⅰ. In family and relationships

Try one small change in communication each week.

Ⅱ. In health and habits

Make small, gentle, short-term experiments.

Examples: Try three nights of “no phone before bed”

Ⅲ. In work and career

You can: test a new presentation style

Every small “stumble” at work can become a stepping stone if you reflect on it.

That’s what I wanted to share with you today.

I’m Phillip. Thanks for listening, and I’ll see you next time.