Cool article from HBS that was published this past April. In it, the author put a new spin on one of my favorite quotes, supposedly spoken by Thomas Watson:

If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate.

The gist of the research was this:

In well-led teams, a climate of openness could make it easier to report and discuss errors—compared to teams with poor relationships or with punitive leaders. The good teams, according to this interpretation, don’t make more mistakes, they report more.

So the quote I like so much might be reworded to be something like this: If you want to increase your success rate, foster a culture of openness where recognizing and reporting mistakes is encouraged.

Takeaway for software development teams? A decreasing number of bugs may not be indicative of a good product.