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Chapter 1Appreciative Intelligence: The Missing Link

A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees.

—William Blake (1790)

When the Hubble Space Telescope was launched in 1990, the general public, as well as scientists in the aerospace field, held high hopes. The world waited expectantly for discoveries and answers to riddles of the universe that would be revealed by the telescope’s views of space.

But blurry images caused by a flawed mirror sent those hopes crashing down to earth. Congress demanded an explanation for the failure. The project and its creators became the butt of late-night television jokes. Stress was high among NASA engineers, as were health problems.

“It was traumatic,” said Charlie Pellerin, the former director of ...

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