We tend to think of tragedies as a single terrible moment, rather than the result of multiple bad decisions. Can this pattern be reversed? We try — with stories about wildfires, school shootings, and love. (Part one of a four-part series.)

SOURCES:
- Amy Edmondson, professor of leadership management at Harvard Business School.
- Helen Fisher, former senior research fellow at The Kinsey Institute and former chief science advisor to Match.com.
- Ed Galea, founding director of the Fire Safety Engineering Group at the University of Greenwich.
- Gary Klein, cognitive psychologist and pioneer in the field of naturalistic decision making.
- David Riedman, founder of the K-12 School Shooting Database.
- Aaron Stark, head cashier at Lowe's and keynote speaker.
- John Van Reenen, professor at the London School of Economics.

RESOURCES:
- "Ethan Crumbley: Parents of Michigan school gunman sentenced to at least 10 years," by Brandon Drenon (New York Times, 2024).
- Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well, by Amy Edmondson (2023).
- "How Fire Turned Lahaina Into a Death Trap," by Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, Serge F. Kovaleski, Shawn Hubler, and Riley Mellen (The New York Times, 2023).
- The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic, by Jillian Peterson and James Densley (2021).
- "I Was Almost A School Shooter," by Aaron Stark (TEDxBoulder, 2018).

EXTRAS:
- "Is Perfectionism Ruining Your Life?" by People I (Mostly) Admire (2023).
- "Why Did You Marry That Person?" by Freakonomics Radio (2022).
- "What Do We Really Learn From Failure?" by No Stupid Questions (2021).
- "How to Fail Like a Pro," by Freakonomics Radio (2019).
- "Failure Is Your Friend," by Freakonomics Radio (2014).

The Lies We Tell Ourselves