The Power of Failure: 27 Ways to Turn Life's Setbacks Into Success [Paperback]

Charles C Manz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2002

"Failure" is one of the most dreaded words in the English language. The very idea of failing is enough to stop most people in their tracks. It can cause the majority to simply pack up, turn around and retreat without even trying. Yet it is through seeming failure that most of life's greatest successes are achieved. The Power of Failure is designed to provide simple yet profound ways to turn what appear to be failures into successes. It contains practical prescriptions for successfully meeting some of life's most common setbacks. The lessons of this book can help us all find the opportunities that are just waiting to be discovered in the challenges we face every day. This book is about failure, but failure in a whole new light. It is about how to Fail To Succeed.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Manz is a speaker, consultant, and author of 12 leadership books. In this take he reexamines our culture's obsession with success and fear of failure. Wise leaders already know that the best recruits come from the ranks of those who have had significant failure in their careers, yet have bounced back. This experience gives them the guts to take chances when faced with the obstacles that inevitably occur in a challenging environment. The book is filled with stories in which breakthroughs and innovations come only after a string of disappointing failures. For instance, versions 1.0 and 2.0 were near disasters, but after version 3.1, Windows became the industry standard. At 3M, post-it notes resulted from a failed attempt at creating a new kind of glue. The project would have been scrapped except one employee started using it to make convenient bookmarks. The lesson here is that it's OK to fail, as long as we recognize our failures and learn from them rather than be stuck repeating them. David Siegfried
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Charles C. Manz, Ph.D., is the Charles and Janet Nirenberg Professor of Business Leadership in the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts. He is the author of several bestselling business books including The New SuperLeadership, Leadership Wisdom of Jesus and Business Without Bosses.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers; 1st edition (May 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576751325
• ISBN-13: 978-1576751329
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #197,871 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An important book at the right time!, March 28, 2002

By 

Mark Annett (Livingston, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Power of Failure: 27 Ways to Turn Life's Setbacks Into Success (Paperback)

"The Power of Failure" is the right book at the right time. The book is broken down into four sections all of which are needed by people at some point in their life.

The first section, "Redefining Failure and Success", helps you reshape your thinking about failure by presenting the real life failures of some of the most influential people in industry today. This section was an "eye opener" for me, and had I read nothing else in the book, I would have been satisfied with section alone.

The second section, "Winning Through Losing", presents very effective strategies that can be put to use on a daily basis to build winning personal relationships.

The third section, "Coping with Failure", is probably the most important. Failure can be devastating and I have personally seen people that have never recovered from past failures. The emotional strength this chapter provides could be a great comfort to someone who is trying to cope with significant failure in their life.

The final section, "Collaborating With Failure", gives strategies for effectively investing in your future.

I feel that this is an important book, especially with the recent down turn in the economy and the significant number of businesses that are experiencing failure. However, this book is not just about business, but about your personal health and well being.

You should definitely buy this book.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Failure as normal part of path to success, November 15, 2002

By 

Harold McFarland (Florida) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Power of Failure: 27 Ways to Turn Life's Setbacks Into Success (Paperback)

Our society teaches us to fear failure. It teaches us that if a project or activity fails then we are a failure. This is a real problem because the only way we don't fail is if we don't try. Moving forward means that failure will happen at times. Instead of teaching that failure is personal in nature we need to redefine failure as part of the learning process. Failure has a purpose. Failure can be used to grow as a person or to redefine and improve a project or plan.

"The Power of Failure: 27 Ways to Turn Life's Setbacks into Success" provides a framework for redefining failure and using it to get ahead and improve your life. Failure can be a devastating factor that completely stops a person in their tracks or it can be the tool that they use to become successful. The choice is yours. A highly recommended read.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great addition to Charles C. Manz's other leadership books, November 27, 2002

By 

Michael Goldsby (Muncie, IN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Power of Failure: 27 Ways to Turn Life's Setbacks Into Success (Paperback)

Dr. Manz has provided academics and practitioners over the years with great books on leadership. In fact, for the last five years I have used his "Mastering Self Leadership" (co-authored with Christopher Neck) in my classes with great success. Students enjoy the straightforward writing style and messages in the book, and I appreciate the content because I know it is based on solid research that Dr. Manz has done over the years. Self-leadership is about influencing yourself to become the best you can be by utilizing your talents, handling obstacles, and completing hard-to-do tasks that others tend to avoid.

However, in "The Power of Failure," Dr. Manz provides a much needed element missing from his previous books, and that is that sometimes as we take on challenges we will fail. Hard work and focus do not guarantee success in every endeavor. Yet, as Dr. Manz illustrates, the failure can actually be a learning experience and a step toward a future success. He provides both personal stories and examples from historic figures to show us how failure has happened to everyone who has become a success. Much like self leadership, the difference between achievers and non-achievers is how they view and handle the dilemma. Many who believe that successful people have had advantages over others are unaware that high achievers may have failed spectacularly too in their life at different times. However, history reports the achievements, not the failures. Dr. Manz teaches us that everyone has low points in their life at some time. It is how we handle that that determines our future.

I am strongly considering adopting this book for my entrepreneurship course next year. Many entrepreneurs experience business failure before they get it right, but the hard times toughen their business acumen and they learn from it. Since many of my students have taken my other courses, I am sure they will be happy to see another one of Dr. Manz's books on my syllabus. Additionally, the book will provide them with wisdom as they enter the stressful years of their early career lives. "The Power of Failure" would be a great book for business students, soon-to-be graduates, and friends or family members who are undergoing a trying time in their lives.

On another note, I read the book during a cross country flight. It reads fairly quickly because it is written with Dr. Manz's straightforward style and interesting storytelling. I highly recommend this book.