Customer Reviews

Every Mistake in the Book: A Business How-NOT-To

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Before reviewing this book, you should know that it contains many coarse words, vulgar stories, and references to immoral behavior. All of these are cautionary examples, but if such candor negatively affects you, you may prefer another book.

I asked the question in the headline, because this book is primarily of value to those who can hear a story and amend their own behavior to avoid the mistakes presented in the story. Since most humans seem to have to do it the hard way, this book can also be appealing as a source of humorous stories about working in start-ups and established business organizations.

Although this book will be most attractive to young people planning to start up a new business, it will also be very valuable to anyone starting a business career without much knowledge about what happens in and to companies.

Mr. Lennon claims to either have made every mistake in this book, or to have observed someone else who did. Having been there, and done that gives the book an authenticity that makes its lessons more powerful than if they had merely been assembled from the business pages of newspapers and magazines.

One of the CEOs I admire most once told me that he learns much more from hearing about the mistakes that others make than from the heroic sagas of success. I suspect that many people feel this way.

Mr. Lennon started up a small computer game company from his college dorm room. Constantly underfunded and often distracted by problems, the company limped along for many years through different owners and technologies. Along the way, the author met many people who he describes as snakes, who took advantage of him. So . . . many expensive lessons ensued.

His final advice in the epilogue is to "Be cool, work hard, play nice, use your noggin, exercise common sense, don't burn bridges, and don't be a snake."

In the first chapter on Basics, he encourages you to provide useful products and services, act with integrity, have good quality, be honest, and be respectful of others. He also wants you to know its very hard to start-up businesses, and the odds are against you.

In the second chapter on Money Matters, he tells you to get more than enough money, to have a business plan attractive enough to attract venture capitalists (or you are kidding yourself about your chances), follow the law in raising money (or he has great checklist of what to take with you to the penitentiary), keep your own savings secure outside of the venture, pay your employees first, and be honest with creditors.

In the third chapter on How to Manage Managing, there is a delightful test of your management style that will tell you whether you are too directive or not directive enough. You also get advice to set a good example in all things, watch the booze (the stories here are pretty wild), get your hands dirty, be truthful, let people do their jobs, set expectations, and plan how to get and keep super people.

In the fourth chapter on In the Trenches, you will learn to avoid looking for love at work, and how to handle being mistreated (make a loud statement).

In the fifth chapter on Let's Get Personal, you are encouraged to learn what you don't know about now, to listen, stop complaining, keep everything in perspective, take the initiative, and behave yourself.

Although the book may sound flip from my description, it is really more like "cool." Anyone who has worked in a company (or read Dilbert) would have come up with a similar list, but somehow this home brew of advice slides down smoothly when it's all so new. I enjoyed the book and found almost nothing to disagree with in it. I admired Mr. Lennon for his candor in telling so many stories on himself. His humility should serve as a good example for us all.

After you finish reading, learning from, and enjoying Every Mistake in the Book, I suggest that you think back where you were able to learn in the past from the experiences of others . . . without a healthy dose of your own mistakes. What can you learn from those examples that can help you get more benefit from this book?

Human progress ultimately is limited by our inability to learn from the mistakes and successes of others! May we all improve rapidly in this area.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who runs their own business, is thinking of starting one, or who is about to move into a management position. Lennon's observations are straight to the point, and the book's awfully funny as well. This book seems extremely timely given the dot com, telecom and general high tech shakeout. Lennon was running a high-tech startup before it was fashionable. Perhaps if this book had been released a few years ago we might have been spared some of the speculative excesses of the last couple years.

In any event, this book is a valuable read for anyone in business. And, as I mentioned above, the book's enjoyable as well as insightful. You get the feeling that Lennon is someone you'd like to have a beer with as well as work with.

The book outlines 103 mistakes (1-2 pages each) that the author made in his many years of being an entrepreneur. It is amazing that he had the energy to survive the kind of mistakes he made. He had fortunately taken notes during all those years and was able to abstract his experiences into these mistakes that fall into 5 broad categories. He categorizes them into Biz Basics, Money Matters, How to Manage Managing, In the Trenches, and Let's get Personal. The first four titles of chapters above are self-explanatory but the last section refers to how your looks, actions, and thoughts really do matter.

The author has a very direct approach in communicating with the reader. It is almost as if you can hear him talking to you in a room with just a few other people present. Unfortunately, the tone that you hear while reading the book is very depressing. The author sounds very cynical and distrusting. It is almost as if he lost faith in people and the world. This alone was scary enough for me to want to read the book and make sure that I don't make the same mistakes (in case I end up with the same frame of mind as the author's).

If you are a small business owner, you can't afford to ignore the knowledge presented in the book. Everyone is familiar with at least some of the mistakes presented in the book. But it is very important to be familiar with all of them because you will run into them sooner or later. The difficult part is in getting past the author's bad attitude towards business and the world at large. I had to spread out the reading of the book into several sessions because I could only take so much of the book in one sitting. I wish there was a different book with the same information but a much happier attitude. But that is just my personal preference. I know other people who would read through this book in one sitting without noticing anything wrong with the tone of the book at all!

I purchased a copy of the book when I first started my company in 2001. I read it after I had already made a few of the mistakes that the author talks about. I then read the book and ever since then I have tried to consciously avoid making the rest of the mistakes presented in the book. And even then I am sure that there is no guarantee of this being an exhaustive list of mistakes one can make in business. I am sure every reader will discover a couple of mistakes unique to their situation that are not in the book.

After reading the book, I felt even more confident in my decision not to sell stock in my company till the business model has been proven successful (in essence, wait to have investors). Of course, you then have to deal with the worst problem any business can have - being undercapitalized during the stage when you most need the money! The author experienced both problems simultaneously - having too many investors and being undercapitalized at the same time. There are very good reasons why he ended up in that unique situation. You will quickly see this as you start reading about the various mistakes he made.

Overall, I am very happy to have made the purchase of this book. Another book that would go very well with this book is 'The EMyth Revisted' by Michael E. Gerber. This is a more inspirational book on how to build a successful business model (not just a business). Check it out when you have some time.

If you are a small business owner, I hope you benefit from this book by avoiding at least some of these mistakes. Sure, you will make different ones, but at least you are ahead of most people who don't read this book. I wish you the best of luck in your business!

After reading this book I thought Lennon was a very cynical SOB. He talks about never trusting people, people backstabbing him, etc. The book is separated into business basics, another section on money concerns, how to manage people and things, comments from the front lines and some personal advice on drinking, dressing, etc.

Getting about ½ way through I thought the book was fun to read but I thought he was so cynical. Then, I got laid off and I realized two of the mistakes he made I just experienced first hand! TOO FUNNY (not really.) After recently finishing the book and chatting with my father about this book (he is a president of a $20 billion company (rev.)) he said most people should read the book. Business is ugly as my father puts it. People claw and scratch their way to the top, backstab people and very rarely put the organization first in the long-term. As my father put it, 90% of the people will backstab you in a heartbeat to get ahead.

My final conclusion. A definite read for anyone getting ready to graduate as I thought a lot of comments were very appropriate and many I thought weren't I have found out were on the money.

I just loved this book. The author is funny and SMART. The guy really knows what he's talking about. This is not only a must read for business, but for LIFE. THIS BOOK NEEDS TO BE ON YOUR BOOKSHELF!!!

Every Mistake in the Book is a "How to Win Friends and Influence People" for the new generation. Like a modern day Dale Carnegie, FJ Lennon mines common sense advice and uncommon wisdom from his own experiences in the business world. These practical and often humorous lessons apply not only to business, but to every walk of life. An extremely enjoyable and informative reading experience.

A rare collections of honest anecdotes rather than the standard collection of cliches, this book realistically and humorously describes the common trials of bootstrapping entrepeuners.

Unlike many business books, this one has the courage of its convictions. Lennon consitently tells stories which illustrate mistakes he has (and many others have) made, in order to root his beliefs in the real world.

Lennon takes on a range of essentiual issues such as Evaluating good (and bad) product concepts; when (and when not) to hire, and when (and when not) to borrow. He then cuts to the chase and delivers common sense, well-reasoned arguments.

Section headings include suggestions such as "Don't Judge People by the Time They Leave", "Be specific in your demands and vague in your threats", and, refreshingly, "Don't Waste Your Money Marketing...". An excellent book for those starting out or those looking for an honest, easy-to-read approach to creating quality products.

You'll get plenty of score settling, chip-on-my-shoulder attitude, but precious little in the way of good business advice.

This is what the author has to say about "the vampires at the top" (p. 43):

"People at the top are accountable for everything, but responsible for nothing. Day-to-day they do little actual work. They meet, they plan, they strategize, they pontificate, but they don't sit down and actually produce anything. It's as though they feel that the only way they can earn their hefty salaries is by piecing back their businesses after having smashed them to bits."

One for the bargain bin.

The author has had a varied business career and has made (or has knowledge of) a number of interesting mistakes in his life. People in the business world (and especially small business owners) should read and heed this book. The book is entertaining, yet makes excellent points with an uncommon amount of humor and flair for a business book.

I liked the book as soon as I got to page 42, where he discusses reorganizations. Having seen a number of these, I was won over with this concise and on-the-money comment: "Too often, reorganizations are twisted games-even regular rituals-in which insecure, out-of-touch, or untalented executives juggle the lives and careers of their employees." Many of these points reinforce a central premise: if you are working for a jerk, call a good employment recruiter, just don't stay in an environment you hate.

His best points are also the most basic (like "check your tongue at the door" and "keep your cool") but they are well illustrated and developed. I dislike getting correspondence and email which has not been checked for spelling, so the section "Spelling Still Counts" was a relief to see. It is now easier than ever to send non-proofread material electronically, but it is just as bad to blindly trust a spell check program to fix your errors without then checking for context and accuracy. (The example he gives on page 175 is priceless.)

This book could have been a five star book with a few changes, but I awarded it four for two primary reasons: first, the author uses profanity relatively commonly, which doesn't enhance the professionalism of a business book in my opinion, and got annoying quickly. The second, and even more annoying, problem is his use of stupid names (e.g. "Denny Deathbytongue") in his stories that brought a childish quality to the book that was counterproductive.

Overall, this is a strong effort and holds a lot of good lessons for anyone in the business world; his emphasis on truthfulness and ethical behavior is admirable, and I am glad I read it.

My roommate is leaving and taking his book, so I am here to order my own copy.

This is just a bunch of little stories with REAL WORLD business lessons from a multimedia entrepreneur, not a far-removed business consultant. A few of his recommendations I would not advise, but most are helpful and learned at his expense, not yours.

My measure of a book like this is a question: Will the time and cost invested be rewarded in saved time and saved cost? I think so. Especially if you liesurely read the book a few times and the stories sink in. The only reason I can't say it would be of certain value is that it does seem, as another reviewer pointed out, that sometimes you just have to learn by your own mistakes. But it is a fun read with short, targeted anecdotes that at the very least let you know you aren't alone in your challenges.

Ideal readers are any business person or entrepreneur, especially those in cutting-edge operations who can relate very directly to his stories. It is also good for business teachers or students who want the real scoop.