Not Everything Is a Story

Your brain craves narrative. When something happens, it automatically weaves a cause-and-effect story, even when the events are random or only loosely connected. The startup succeeded because of the founder's grit. The project failed because of the bad hire. In reality, luck, timing, and dozens of invisible factors played enormous roles — but those do not make satisfying stories.

Be suspicious of neat explanations, especially after the fact. Life is messier than any story, and the narrative fallacy can lead you to learn the wrong lessons from your own experience. When something goes well or badly, resist the urge to build a tidy plot — sit with the ambiguity instead.