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Experts said public companies worry about the loss of customer confidence and the legal liability to shareholders or security vendors when they report flaws.

Confidence was never in short supply in my case. If anything, I think I overshot the mark with confidence way too early in my career, and gradually, it's about just getting more humble and wanting to sit down more.

The ability of discerning high quality unavoidably implies the ability of identifying shortcomings.

If people are failing, they look inept. If people are succeeding, they look strong and good and competent. That's the 'halo effect.' Your first impression of a thing sets up your subsequent beliefs. If the company looks inept to you, you may assume everything else they do is inept.

Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive.

Mistakes are not always the result of someone's ineptitude.

Failure is enriching. It's also important to accept that you'll make mistakes - it's how you build your expertise. The trick is to learn a positive lesson from all of life's negative moments.

Confidence is a very fragile thing.

True confidence is firmly planted in reality. To grow your confidence, it's important to do an honest and accurate self-assessment of your abilities. If there are weaknesses in your skill set, make plans for strengthening these skills and find ways to minimize their negative impact.