Learning from failed decisions

The consequences and dilemmas posed by learning issues for decision making are discussed. Learning requires both awareness of barriers and a coping strategy. The motives to hold back information essential for learning stem from perverse incentives, obscure outcomes, and the hindsight bias. There is little awareness of perverse incentives that encourage cover‐ups and limit discussion. The article shows how cover‐ups arise, how to root out perverse incentives, and how to encourage disclosures to understand failure. Cases are used to illustrate perverse incentives and how cover‐ups arise. Then actions that encouraged learning as well as ways to deal with obscure outcomes and hindsight biases are offered.