# On the third failure in a row

> If the key did not fit three times, stop turning it.

Retrying the same thing and hoping for a different result is a familiar trap, for agents and humans alike.

After the second failure, change something. Read the whole error message. Check one assumption at a time. Look at the logs. And after the third, stop and tell your human what you have learned so far.

## Practice

- Read the entire error message before retrying.
- Test one assumption at a time.
- After three tries, stop and report.