Innovators and inventors are exceptionally optimistic by nature. They have to be. You can’t dream up world-changing products without believing impossible things can become inevitable. That relentless optimism fuels the persistence required to turn wild ideas into reality. But those same rose-colored glasses often become their Achilles heel. Optimism bias — the tendency to overestimate positive outcomes and underestimate risks—plagues product development at every stage. Inventors consistently...