Jim Dixon wrote: Sometimes it takes two failed attempts for the hero to figure out what he is doing wrong (and for the storyteller to make it clear to the listener); then he applies his new knowledge and succeeds.

Hegel: Thesis, antithesis, synthesis. :-)

Also, on another post, The Gripping Hand is by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, and it's Pournelle's Co-Dominium universe. Primary credit for the set-up probably belongs to Pournelle, although Niven had an equal part in creating the Moties.