--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Perhaps this is why The Boeing Company…" description: "\"“Perhaps this is why The Boeing Company, one of the largest airplane design and engineering firms in the world, keeps a black book of lessons it has le..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b87/scott-berkun-12409_black-books_perhaps-this-is-why-the-boeing-company-o_1819992.png" --- # Perhaps this is why The Boeing Company, one of the largest… ![“Perhaps this is why The Boeing Company, one of the largest airplane design and engineering firms in the world, keeps a black book of lessons it has learned from design and engineering failures.[4] Boeing has kept this document since the company was formed, and it uses it to help modern designers…” quote by Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b87/scott-berkun-12409_black-books_perhaps-this-is-why-the-boeing-company-o_1819992.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b87/scott-berkun-12409_black-books_perhaps-this-is-why-the-boeing-company-o_1819992.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b87/scott-berkun-12409_black-books_perhaps-this-is-why-the-boeing-company-o_1819992.png) > ““Perhaps this is why The Boeing Company, one of the largest airplane design and engineering firms in the world, keeps a black book of lessons it has learned from design and engineering failures.\[4\] Boeing has kept this document since the company was formed, and it uses it to help modern designers learn from past attempts. Any organization that manages to do this not only increases its chances for successful projects, but also helps create an environment that can discuss and confront failure openly, instead of denying and hiding from it. It seems that software developers need to keep black books of their own.”” [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Documenting past failures creates a shared learning resource, fostering openness and improving future project success. **In simple terms:** Keeping a record of mistakes helps teams learn and avoid repeats. Key Takeaway Create and maintain a “black book” of lessons. Themes learning transparency continuous improvement risk management Mood reflective proactive Type practical inspirational When to use this quote - software development - aerospace engineering - project management - team retrospectives Key Concepts organizational memory psychological safety systems thinking Questions to Reflect On - How can you encourage honest reporting of failures? - What processes ensure lessons are actually applied? A Different Perspective It may be hard to capture all nuances of failures, and some may resist sharing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Airplane Design](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/airplane-design-2186852/) [Black books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-books/) [Boeing Company](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boeing-company-2186848/) [Engineering Failures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/engineering-failures-2186850/) [Failures Boeing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failures-boeing-2186849/) [Learn From Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learn-from-past/) [Learned Design](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learned-design-2186851/) ## Related quotes > [“Learning to design is, first of all, learning to see. Designers see more, and more precisely. 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Always learn from past mistakes, otherwise, the mistake wasn't worth it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kemmy-nola/you-can-never-have-a-better-tomorrow-if-you-re-still-thinking-about/) [Kemmy Nola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kemmy-nola/) > [We just have to move forward and learn from past experiences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-tannehill/we-just-have-to-move-forward-and-learn-from-past-experiences/) [Ryan Tannehill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-tannehill/) > [“Experience teaches is such a lovely saying. However, when people try not to make the mistakes of what history and experience has taught, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-suggs/experience-teaches-is-such-a-lovely-saying-however-when-people-try/) [Lionel Suggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-suggs/) > [Even someone brokes our heart but in our hurts we have learn from past..so that next time we strong to face the problems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariane-corbito/even-someone-brokes-our-heart-but-in-our-hurts-we-have-learn-from/) [Mariane Corbito](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariane-corbito/) > [We have the philosophy that you can learn from past experiences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodri/we-have-the-philosophy-that-you-can-learn-from-past-experiences/) [Rodri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodri/) ## More by Scott Berkun > [“We develop ulcers, high blood pressure, headaches, and other physical problems in part because our stress systems aren’t designed to handle the “dangers” of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/we-develop-ulcers-high-blood-pressure-headaches-and-other-physical/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [ “Human beings, who are almost unique \[among animals\] in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/human-beings-who-are-almost-unique-among-animals-in-having-the/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [“What good is something that scales well if it sucks? 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If you have two dedicated, reasonably intelligent people, one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/i-believe-anyone-can-teach-anyone-anything-but-i-mean-this-in-a/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [“The Greeks were so committed to ideas as supernatural forces that they created an entire group of goddesses (not one but nine) to represent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/the-greeks-were-so-committed-to-ideas-as-supernatural-forces-that/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [For centuries before Google, MIT, and IDEO, modern hotbeds of innovation, we struggled to explain any kind of creation, from the universe itself to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/for-centuries-before-google-mit-and-ideo-modern-hotbeds-of-innovation/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [No one has died from giving a bad presentation. Well, at least one person did, President William Henry Harrison, but he developed pneumonia after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/no-one-has-died-from-giving-a-bad-presentation-well-at-least-one/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [“History can’t give attention to what’s been lost, hidden, or deliberately buried; it is mostly a telling of success, not the partial failures that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/history-can-t-give-attention-to-what-s-been-lost-hidden-or/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [Good public speaking is based on good private thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/good-public-speaking-is-based-on-good-private-thinking/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [It's rare for people to genuinely try to understand what others are trying to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/it-s-rare-for-people-to-genuinely-try-to-understand-what-others-are/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) [Explore all 54 Scott Berkun quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) ## More Black books quotes > [Have I got a black book? Yes, it's called a mobile phone. I do get offers. There is no shortage of people if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-cowell/have-i-got-a-black-book-yes-it-s-called-a-mobile-phone-i-do-get/) [Simon Cowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-cowell/) > [Add a drop of lavender to milk, leave town with an orange, and pretend you're laughing at it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bailey/add-a-drop-of-lavender-to-milk-leave-town-with-an-orange-and-pretend/) [Bill Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bailey/) > [ “Fran Katzenjammer: "You need someone normal around here". Bernard: "Normal! He's normal is he, is he"? Fran Katzenjammer: \[chuckles\] Bernard: "What am I then"?… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-moran/fran-katzenjammer-you-need-someone-normal-around-here-bernard-normal/) [Dylan Moran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-moran/) > [One thing that's coming up a lot is: are you as grumpy as you appear from this Black Books thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-moran/one-thing-that-s-coming-up-a-lot-is-are-you-as-grumpy-as-you-appear/) [Dylan Moran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-moran/) > [I love 'The Autobiography of Malcolm X.' That was like the only black book we read in high school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/i-love-the-autobiography-of-malcolm-x-that-was-like-the-only-black/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [“When I die I hope it may be said: 'Her suffering was black, but her books were read'.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-alder/when-i-die-i-hope-it-may-be-said-her-suffering-was-black-but-her/) [Shannon Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-alder/) > [“He looks like a horse in a man costume!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-moran/he-looks-like-a-horse-in-a-man-costume/) [Dylan Moran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-moran/) > [Black Books adheres to a more old fashioned, traditional sitcom format, which I think works, because in its own way, it's quite theatrical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-moran/black-books-adheres-to-a-more-old-fashioned-traditional-sitcom-format/) [Dylan Moran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-moran/) > [Every girl should have this-the little black book for career success!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cohn-rockefeller/every-girl-should-have-this-the-little-black-book-for-career-success/) [Susan Cohn Rockefeller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cohn-rockefeller/) > [“Actually the contents of these books mattered little. What did matter was what they first felt when they went into the library, where they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/actually-the-contents-of-these-books-mattered-little-what-did-matter/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [You know, just sometimes, in between the first cigarette with coffee in the morning to that four hundredth glass of cornershop piss at 3am,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-moran/you-know-just-sometimes-in-between-the-first-cigarette-with-coffee-in-2/) [Dylan Moran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-moran/) > [A friend in the War Office warned me that I was in Kitchener's black books, and that orders had been given for my arrest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-gibbs/a-friend-in-the-war-office-warned-me-that-i-was-in-kitchener-s-black/) [Philip Gibbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-gibbs/) > [You know you're getting old when all the names in your black book have M. D. after them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harrison-ford/you-know-you-re-getting-old-when-all-the-names-in-your-black-book/) [Harrison Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harrison-ford/) > [“The tendency, which exists wherever industrialism is well developed, for trusts and monopolies to control all industry, leads to a diminution of the number…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/the-tendency-which-exists-wherever-industrialism-is-well-developed/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [We've all got a black book of missed opportunities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-broadbent/we-ve-all-got-a-black-book-of-missed-opportunities/) [Jim Broadbent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-broadbent/) [Browse all 21 Black books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Perhaps this is why The Boeing Company, one of the largest airplane design and engineering firms in the world, keeps a black book of lessons it has learned from design and engineering failures.[4] Boeing has kept this document since the company was formed, and it uses it to help modern designers learn from past attempts. 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