Often when faced with a difficult task we make a set ofassumptions that dictate our actions. “I'm not good enough to getthat client.” Or “I can't go to that event, it's too big-time forme.” We can sabotage ourselves before we even begin, afraid offailure or embarrassment. To tackle hard problems and to reallystretch ourselves, sometimes we have to make a “deliberatemistake.”

I've been fascinated with deliberate mistakes since PaulSchoemaker and the late Robert Gunther introduced the idea in the HarvardBusiness Review in 2006. To repeat their definition:

“True deliberate mistakes are expected, on the basis of currentassumptions, to fail and not be worth the cost of the experiment….But if such a mistake unexpectedly succeeds… [it] createsopportunities for profitable learning.”