Think You Screwed Up? These 6 Business Leaders Share Their Big Mistake — and Lesson Learned Too often, we think a leader has to be right. But these businesses transformed when their leaders realized they'd had it wrong all along.

It's hard to admit you're wrong, especially when you're the boss, and you have a lot of people expecting you to have the right answer. But the ability to recognize you're wrong about something is a crucial part of growth. We asked six founders and business leaders to share stories about times they realized they'd been thinking about something all wrong, and how that recognition helped propel them — and their businesses — toward better things.

1. I thought sustainability = use less.

"I just wanted to focus on plastic reduction. But my team convinced me there was value in a moonshot. So in 2020 we declared our plan to move 'Beyond Plastic.' Since then, we've reduced our annual plastic intensity, launched a working group nearly 100 companies strong, and eliminated over 5 million pounds of plastic from products that would otherwise have relied on it. Without the more ambitious goal, we may not have made it this far." — Stuart Landesberg, cofounder and CEO, Grove Collaborative