“Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.” ― Rita Mae Brown

I was talking to a teammate recently about our jobs, and he said what he appreciates most about our company is that we're seldom penalized for imperfect judgement. Not doing your best is a problem, but failure is a part of the process.

I've realized over time that this is one of the most important traits of any successful group. As Rita Mae Brown puts it so eloquently, there is no learning without failure.

It's also discussed well in the outstanding article by the Harvard Business Review, "Innovation Isn't All Fun and Games — Creativity Needs Discipline.".The delicate balance between failure and competenence is the first point they choose to highlight. It's quite possibly the most important.