James Buchanan $1 Coins issued

Earlier this week, the United States Mint released the latest coin in the ongoing Presidential $1 Coin Program, this time featuring our “worst president,” James Buchanan (1857-61).

Read more: James Buchanan Dollar Coin

The Great Typo Hunt

Jeff Deck, Benjamin Herson, and the other members of the Typo Eradication Advancement League (TEAL) are out to change the world, one correction at a time. Read more about The Great Typo Hunt.

Golden Gate

Failure magazine reviews: Golden Gate - The Life and Times of America's Greatest Bridge, by Kevin Starr, Bloomsbury Press.

Sudan: Darfur, Islamism, and the World

“This book is about one of the greatest humanitarian and political disasters of our age,” writes Richard Cockett, Africa editor of The Economist, in the introduction to “Sudan.” Read Failure magazine's book review.

Today's Google doodle: The Wizard of Oz

Today's Google doodle celebrates the 71st anniversary of The Wizard of Oz.

Downstream: Death of the Mighty Colorado

Failure interviews photographer Brian L. Frank, who won the 2010 Global Vision Award for his photo essay Downstream: Death of the Mighty Colorado.

Success Made Simple

Only half of newly-opened American companies are still around after five years. But if the business is Amish, the success rate is ninety-five percent. What accounts for such a high success rate? Independent Amish expert Erik Wesner has the answer.

When Failure is Tolerable

My co-editor pointed out an interesting post yesterday in the blog section of Harvard Business Review titled When Failure is Intolerable. The gist of the post is that while there is value in “positive failure,” there are also times when failure should be considered unacceptable. In the midst of making his argument, though, Scott Anthony brings up an important point — that part of the reason organizations (and the individuals who work for them) fear failure is because “Too frequently people reward (or punish) outcomes when they should reward (or punish) behaviors.” There’s a lot of truth in that; workers tend to act conservatively because they fear being scolded (or fired) for bold initiatives that don’t work out as planned. As a result, there’s a lot less innovation than there should be — or could be. Organizations need to empower individuals to push the envelope, with the understanding that things will not always unfold as planned.