Imagine you decide to learn a new language and never make a mistake while learning it. No typos, no misspellings, no grammatical errors, everything turns out perfect. The first reaction is, “How can this happen?” Perfection isn’t believable. Similarly, if everything one tries doesn’t work, usually the first reaction is, “How can this happen?” Total failure or total success are unbelievably the same.

Learning a new subject such as Six Sigma has its own challenges. Imagine you tried several projects and always found a breakthrough solution. You would learn practically nothing significant. I remember making my first professional mistake. I inadvertently dropped 50,000 semiconductor chips on a grated floor! I ran downstairs hoping to catch the falling chips, sweating profusely and imagining getting fired on the spot.

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