A culture of brutal honesty

The New York Times on how the AI pin flopped

Insightful linked post from John Gruber on why the AI pin flopped. This bit stood out to me as particularly insightful:

It is the kiss of death for any endeavor, creative or technical, to have a culture where brutally honest internal criticism is not welcome, especially when it goes up the chain. In fact it needs to be the expectation, if you’re pursuing excellence.