--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This tendency to focus too heavily on the…" description: "\"“This tendency to focus too heavily on the occasional success is helped along by an asymmetry in the way we evaluate success and failure. A single succ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e0/thomas-gilovich-10928_failure_this-tendency-to-focus-too-heavily-on-th_2342868.jpg" --- # This tendency to focus too heavily on the occasional… ![“This tendency to focus too heavily on the occasional success is helped along by an asymmetry in the way we evaluate success and failure. A single success generally does more to confirm a strategy’s effectiveness than a single failure does to disconfirm it. Indeed, successes tend to be taken as…” quote by Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e0/thomas-gilovich-10928_failure_this-tendency-to-focus-too-heavily-on-th_2342868.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e0/thomas-gilovich-10928_failure_this-tendency-to-focus-too-heavily-on-th_2342868.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e0/thomas-gilovich-10928_failure_this-tendency-to-focus-too-heavily-on-th_2342868.jpg) > ““This tendency to focus too heavily on the occasional success is helped along by an asymmetry in the way we evaluate success and failure. A single success generally does more to confirm a strategy’s effectiveness than a single failure does to disconfirm it. Indeed, successes tend to be taken as prima facie evidence that the strategy is effective.”” [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People overvalue isolated successes while undervaluing failures, leading to biased judgments about strategies. **In simple terms:** Successes are weighted more than failures in our minds. Key Takeaway Beware of over‑emphasizing single wins. Themes cognition decision‑making bias evaluation Mood cautious analytical Type critical reflective When to use this quote - business strategy reviews - investment decisions - personal goal setting - team performance assessments Key Concepts confirmation bias asymmetry heuristics Questions to Reflect On - How might you balance success and failure evidence? - What data would you need to validate a strategy? A Different Perspective Successes can be misleading if not contextualized with broader data. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Strategy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strategy/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Success and failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success-and-failure/) ## Related quotes > [“Consider the common belief among some segments of the population that “the only way to get anywhere with the opposite sex is to come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/consider-the-common-belief-among-some-segments-of-the-population-that/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [It's an interesting thing to be in your forties and evaluate success and take ownership of some disasters and some pain and try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uma-thurman/it-s-an-interesting-thing-to-be-in-your-forties-and-evaluate-success/) [Uma Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uma-thurman/) > [One of the commonest mistakes and one of the costliest is thinking that success is due to some genius, some magic – something or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maltbie-davenport-babcock/one-of-the-commonest-mistakes-and-one-of-the-costliest-is-thinking/) [Maltbie Davenport Babcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maltbie-davenport-babcock/) > [One of the commonest mistakes and one of the costliest is thinking that success is due to some genius, some magic - something or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maltbie-davenport-babcock/one-of-the-commonest-mistakes-and-one-of-the-costliest-is-thinking-2/) [Maltbie Davenport Babcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maltbie-davenport-babcock/) > [The road to success may be, and generally is, obstructed by many influences which must be removed before the goal can be reached.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/the-road-to-success-may-be-and-generally-is-obstructed-by-many/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [Success, in a generally accepted sense of the term, means the opportunity to experience and to realize to the maximum the forces that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sarnoff/success-in-a-generally-accepted-sense-of-the-term-means-the/) [David Sarnoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sarnoff/) > [Don't be afraid of a little opposition. 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