A 2014 research study by Ronald Bledow and colleagues suggests that a higher degree of knowledge transfer follows learning about others’ failures when compared to learning about others’ successes, or from stories about failure or success of the learner’s own organization. Seems like schadenfreude has a place in business.
Their abstract:
We argue that other peoples’ failures provide a neglected source of managerial learning that is associated with enhanced learning transfer. Due to their negative valence, stories about other peoples’ failures as compared to stories about other peoples’ successes should elicit a more pronounced motivational response, such that people elaborate the content of failure stories more actively.