A venture capitalist's first question to a founder is about a major failure. An inability to answer ends the meeting, as it signals a lack of experience in confronting and overcoming adversity, a crucial skill for leading a startup.
A major product recall forced a CMO to conduct a forensic analysis of 96 issues across the entire supply chain, far outside his marketing role. This unwanted, deep operational knowledge became the foundation for the company's subsequent record-breaking growth.
To avoid making prohibited forward-looking statements to investors, a CEO advised his CMO to reframe answers. When asked about the future, respond with a story about a past event or success that demonstrates capability and strategy, effectively answering the question without speculation.
An England rugby coach's philosophy is to be "tough in victory and gentle in defeat." After a loss, a player already knows their mistakes and needs support. After a big win, a player is overconfident and vulnerable, which is the precise moment for critical feedback to prevent future failure.
The airline industry's safety record improved by legally requiring that 'black box' data from crashes be made public for all airlines to learn from. Businesses can adopt this by creating a culture where learnings from failures are systematically shared across the entire organization, not siloed.
Despite winning 80% of his matches, tennis legend Roger Federer won only 54% of total points played. This highlights that top-tier success isn't about constant victory, but about winning the critical points and maintaining a small but consistent edge over the competition.