Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins [Kindle Edition]

Richard Farson (Author), Ralph Keyes (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Precious few of us--and that includes Hall of Fame achievers like J. Paul Getty and Bill Gates--ever travel a straight line to the winner's circle. Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins, by Richard Farson and Ralph Keyes, builds on this basic assumption to suggest that some failures may not only be inevitable on our road to success, but might actually help us attain it. In earlier books, Farson (Management of the Absurd) and Keyes (Chancing It) wrote separately about risk taking and reexamining assumptions. Here, they jointly proclaim that in the age of Oprah it might truly be counterproductive to accept the traditional meaning of business yin and yang. "Relying on conventional, outmoded ideas about success and failure stands in the way of your ability to innovate, compete and stay ahead of the curve in a changing economy," they write. While slim, their book goes on to make a compelling case for "managing in the postfailure era" by supporting the type of traditionally discouraged behavior that resulted in breakthrough creativity over the years at firms like 3M, Monsanto, and Apple. Since crises, setbacks, and adversity help shape and advance our lives, the authors argue, why can't enlightened managers also turn them into forward movement in the workplace? Contrarian food for thought. --Howard Rothman

From Publishers Weekly

From the "learn from your mistakes" school of thought comes Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins: The Paradox of Innovation. Today's business world calls for taking risks and accepting setbacks, say authors Richard Farson (Management of the Absurd) and Ralph Keyes (Chancing It). In this tiny volume, they cite examples from Rudy Giuliani's performance amid the chaos of September 11 to inventor Charles Kettering's perseverance in the face of adversity. Recognizing obstacles is essential to victory, Farson and Keyes contend, and despite their book's brevity, they demonstrate concrete ways to do so.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 256 KB
• Publisher: Free Press (March 11, 2003)
• Sold by: Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000FC0WRO
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #469,109 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From a manager who has made a lot of mistakes, May 7, 2003

By 

edward sadauskas (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins (Hardcover)

Where was this book when I started my career. Ralph Keyes & Richard Farson have created a path that needs to be followed. I remember begging for forgiveness on a regular basis waiting for the hatchet to fall. The insight and clairity of this book is inspiring. If you find yourself standing on the "razors edge" and you need that little push, pick up this book and devour it. You will ask yourself why you didn't jump years ago. A true "must read" for all managers and executives who want to survive in todays economy. You are your own worst enemy if you walk the path that is worn thin, find the alternative paths that makes you heart pound with energy and you will find excitement and true fulfillment. Ralph and Richard have given us that push.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sucess by another name, November 16, 2002

By 

Martin Schray (West Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins (Hardcover)

This is a great book and a quick read. Be ready to do some deep thinking though. This book will make you consider the metal modals that you use to measure success and failure.

In the light of the dot com meltdown this book seems very timely. Companies with no operating history or sustainable operating model were called success and become the companies to emulate. Most of the dot coms are gone now and WorldCom and Enron are known to be what they are it seems very timely to look at success and failure.

Reading this book also makes you look at your life in a different way when reviewing past events. As you review your personal history you may find that what you thought to be a big failure was in fact the thing that led to recent success.

One of the key take a ways of this book for me was that was those I consider successful often view not trying as the opposite of success rather then failure. For these folks the failures are the mile markers on the way to success.

This is a great book because it makes you look hard at success and failure and consider what they mean in you life. Highly recommended.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definately Worth Reading, December 6, 2004

By 

Jeremy Gragg (Corvallis, OR USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Innovation Paradox : The Success of Failure, the Failure of Success (Paperback)

I was first drawn to this book when I was writing a college research paper on the topic of "Success". This book is extremely intersting in that it documents exellent, real-world examples of how failure leads to success (as well as the paradox, how too much success can/will lead to failure).

I found this book to be a quick and easy read that caused me to question our societal norms and values in the subjects of success and failure.

On another note, I think that this book can be particularly useful to people who are perfectionists or who are stressed out about their need to succeed in whatever they are doing. This book helps to demonstrate that succeeding in everything is not always the route to being "successful" in the long run, and that playing it safe can end up costing you later on.

Thus, if you have any interest in the subjects of success/failure, economics, business, psycology or really any other topic...I would recommend this book. Definately glad I read it. Helped me to "succeed" in my paper about success.