Outgoing Microsoft CCO Frank X. Shaw shares lessons on learning from mistakes
film_girl · x · 2026-10-10
Frank X. Shaw, Microsoft's outgoing chief communications officer, published a retrospective on his personal blog about making and learning from mistakes.
- Mistakes made while trying new things are noble — don't bet the farm, but add experimental tactics to the mix where failure isn't catastrophic.
- Root cause analysis matters most: in big moments, many factors interact, and sometimes the interplay itself is the problem. He quotes Brad Smith: "Complicated cases rarely make for good precedents."
- Learning only happens when leaders model accountability — regularly discussing small mistakes normalizes experimentation and failure.
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