The ultimate goal was always to exploit the opportunity to pour cash into successful innovations before the competition, but these companies recognized that trial-and-error learning usually uncovers opportunities faster than master plans.

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In the process, the leaders in these councils, who hail from Syria's different religious and ethnic groups, are developing political skills, cultivating local constituencies and learning through trial and error the business of governing.

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Mason, who has professionally never worked for anyone else but himself in a fulltime capacity, attributes much of his entrepreneurial success to learning by trial and error at ThePoint.

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Innovative cultures maximize learning by nurturing a mindset of enlightened trial and error that allows managers to take advantage of errors to offer new insights.

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