That's a great history lesson. But I wouldn't consider an "Active Retreat" as inaction. Inaction would be to do nothing. Also, I believe that the article is really just saying to not build a culture that punishes failure. It's not saying throw a party. It's just saying to view failure as an acheivment of action. As the sayings go... "Knowing what NOT to do is as important as knowing what TO do." and "There is no such thing as failure if you learned something."

And there is nothing wrong with celebrating a strong fight, even if victory eludes you.