Yea. A good workplace is one in which calling "that one is my fault" is a natural part of your work flow and doesn't cost you points (unless you become to frequent).

Yeah, but sometimes "vicariously" doesn't cut it, you have to "do the work," you have to grind it out.

http://raganwald.posterous.com/what-ive-learned-about-learni...

Hey, it's a pithy one-liner (two-worder) -- and like any such chestnut is going to be wrong a lot of the time.

Even so, learning from someone else's mistakes is "cheaper" than making mistakes yourself. The further you can get by avoiding mistakes others have made so you can get to your own personal mistakes, the better.

I'd say "err vicariously" gets better the more you think about it, rather than needing to be nitpicked.

It's a maxim. It's supposed to guide your behaviour, not be taken 100% literally.