In a presentation referencing Russian physicist Andre Geim, Polish psychologist Solomon Asch and American comedian Chris Rock, Harvard professor Sarah Lewis opened the fourth annual Global Public Relations Summit by making the case for failure—or more specifically, for the “near-win” that spurs the best people in a wide range of fields to achieve true mastery. Lewis, assistant professor of history of art and architecture and African and African American studies at Harvard University and author of The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery, was speaking at a plenary session sponsored by Ketchum, during which she urged the PR people in the room to use their failures as an incentive to creative triumph.