"Organizations often learn the wrong lessons from failure.
After a failure, the organization wants closure. The first lesson offered is often the most comforting one: add a checklist, add a gate, add a training, and declare the risk handled. The story feels responsible because it creates activity.
Edmondson’s warning is that comfort is not learning. Wrong lessons create busywork that looks like control while the real mechanism remains intact. The next team learns to optimize for paperwork instead of capability.
Write the future critique of the easy lesson. Imagine the next failure that happens anyway because the mechanism was untouched, then choose one capability to strengthen: faster detection, cleaner containment, or clearer decision rights. Choose the capability that breaks the chain, not the one that is easiest to announce.