The unexpected benefit of celebrating failure | Astro Teller

"Great dreams aren't just visions," says Astro Teller, "They're visions coupled to strategies for making them real." The head of X (formerly Google X), Teller takes us inside the "moonshot factory," as it's called, where his team seeks to solve the world's biggest problems through experimental projects like balloon-powered Internet and wind turbines that sail through the air. Find out X's secret to creating an organization where people feel comfortable working on big, risky projects and exploring audacious ideas.

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[alicialanda]

What an amazing example of unconditional love and service to humanity.!! It brought tears to my eyes.

[rubikashree]

I so badly needed the motivation to get through the difficult phase of my research as a high schooler. I really gotta thank this guy, I will be excited to fail from now on!

[HiAdrian]

That would also be the right attitude for programming. Writing rigorous unit tests with _enthusiasm_ rather than the hope to find nothing so as to be done with it. His personality might not be everyone's cup of tea, but the message is good.

[CharonsNightmare]

"Sucking at something is the first step to become sorta good at something." - Jake the Dog

[jayfaisa]

With a name like Astro Teller, I'm surprised he hasn't run for president.

[AlexanderEmmanual]

Sounds like a really amazing culture at X. They've turned the table on the idea of failure to be rewarded instead of admonished. Failure is their success and everyone has to invest in that idea to prosper at X. "Enthusiastic scepticism is NOT the enemy of boundless optimmism. It's optimises perfect partner. It unlocks the potential in every idea"

[trixie]

"Sometimes shifting perspective is more powerful than being smart".

[andyan]

"enthusiastic skepticism is not the enemy of boundless optimism"
nice.

[harinair]

Half a moonshot is no good at all, by leaps and bounds! Those who recognize this and end their project/s need to be recognized and rewarded. Thanks Teller...

[SkrumpBumpky]

I saw this when it was broadcasted live in cinemas. Amazing talk.

[MacoveiVlad]

12:50 did he miss a applause moment for using metric there? Or because of mixing units? :)

Probably he undersold the difficulty of flying a balloon high in the atmosphere with that precision.

[CompGeek]

"Enthusiastic skepticism is not the enemy of boundless optimism. It's optimism's perfect partner. It unlocks the potential in every idea." - Astro Teller

[omarperezr]

This is Popper perspective of all human endeavours. Nice.

[gigisimbajon]

Interesting concepts.. I love the term 'killing the project'...It implies that they generate too many ideas to concretize...but they seem to have no clear objectives... vertical farming could be useful for other localities.. you don't kill a project just because you won't profit from them... you can sell your concept and gain instead...if you have ideas that may not be beneficial for yourself, then give them away that others may benefit from them.

[aaaaaaaaooooooo]

With the Balloon cargo transport project, it seems to me that the perspective shift needed is: "All right, we can't do it because the first iteration takes too much money. So, to make this happen, what other uses are there for balloons so that we can first build up the efficiency we need with balloons, but on a smaller-scale project?" I wonder if the Loon project was born from such a thought process. If it succeeds, it would double as an intermediate step to make the cargo transport balloon project become a more approachable project in the future. In a similar vein, I wonder if balloons could be used for the floating wind turbine to raise them into the air more efficiently.
As for the vertical farming project, I am wondering why it had to be killed, if it was working for vegetables other than grain. Is there not a perspective shift of "What other uses are there for this tech other than producing grain that could make economic sense?" Do they stick to a system of one project=one goal? Do they just start up a different project if they find another spinoff goal?

[MrPeterthepilot]

Hardly ever read the comments in a TED talk that isn't dominated by Trolls. Knew this would be a prime target. Interesting to see how people's (often limited) minds work!

[ruusauugwanga]

So Far the Best I Have Watched...Great Minds I Like Their Persistence

[TheRidRichard]

Now I've come to realise that my life is a fucking festival

[DomsDocs]

*Great talk! - So awesome to hear people more successful than you...power of the internet - fucking love it!*

[dabidoe]

Astro Teller is the best fake name I've ever heard, even if it's his real name.