Today we continue writing the review of the book "Little bets".  In investigating what facilitates the successful practice of little bets, a certain way of thinking about failure plays an important role. Successful experimental innovators tend to view failure as both inevitable and instrumental in pursuing their goals. Therefore they exhibit a growth mindset and tend to seek activities that expand their abilities. For example, Pixar's top managers demonstrate a relentless desire to challenge and learn, and they ensure that this trickles throughout the rest of the company.Ed Catmull of Pixar describes the creative process there as going from suck to nonsuck. The author also interviewed Frank Gehry who is a well known architect and demonstrates growth mindset. He said he doesn't feel he is at a mountaintop but is still continuing to get there. Practicing little bets frees us from the expectation that we should know everything we need to know before we begin. By focusing on doing rather than planning and learning the pitfalls of ideas, we demonstrate a growth mindset. Pixar relies on a concept called plussing. The idea of plussing is to build upon and improve ideas without using judgemental language. Creating an atmosphere where ideas are constantly being plussed, maintains a sense of humour and playfulness. Successful humour breaks down power structures that tend to inhibhit tighter social bonds and interactions.
The author extolls constraints in any situation as guardrails that not only shape and focus problems but also provide clear challenges. Bing Gordon, the founder of Electronic Arts found it useful to break down a project into relatively small problems - a method he called smallifying. This practice has now been widely embraced in the software industry as agile software development. Similarly Yunus the well known Economics professor absorbed himself in the lives of the poorest before discovering a core problem that economists had ignored.
Learning a little from a lot and a lot from a little are some of the insights that comes with this creativity. Dr.Wiseman found that people who considered themselves lucky  in essence created their own luck by interacting with a larger group and getting more insights and opportunities. Similarly MIT Professor Von Hippel found that there are cutting edge users of ideas who form a good pilot group to test little bets which make them a sure win over a bigger audience. When the audience gives a muted chorus of chuckles, Chris Rock knows that he's found a theme that has the makings of  a good joke.
Starbucks evolved in a similar manner. It emerged by carefully adapting to customer feedback. Schultz initially was against non-fat milk but when customers kept requesting non-fat milk, he relented. The success of those drinks become an important small win. Non-fat milk would grow to almost half of Starbucks' lattes and cappuccinos.
Thus experimental innovators use strikingly similar methods inside their work processes.