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

by F J Lennon (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Lennon started a computer-game business while still in college. Was he a success? Not really, he admits, because he made some of the dumbest mistakes possible. Over his nearly 20 years as an entrepreneur, he kept a journal of his experiences that evolved into this breezy, conversational book designed to keep readers from falling into the same traps Lennon has. His blunt rules regarding business basics, money issues, management, corporate politics and interpersonal skills are occasionally obvious ("Learn to listen to your employees" or "It's impossible to say something stupid with your mouth shut"). But he is often insightful: "Employees feed off the emotions of their superiors. Even in times of crisis, try to be positive. Maintaining an even keel keeps morale and productivity on a steady track." And his self-effacement is funny and persuasive: "In times of crisis, I was the King Kong of negativity, the Monet of despair, painting bleak scenarios that hung like dark clouds in the office." He advocates some quite sound and frequently overlooked practices, such as frugality tempered by fairness as a manager (authority doesn't include the right to act like a dictator, he explains). The book would have even more credibility if Lennon had provided specific details about his ventures such as their financial ins and outs rather than using nicknames or glossing over details. Still, the book is a helpful companion to straightforward entrepreneurial titles for readers in the early stages of their careers.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Lennon affirms the old adage that experience is the best teacher with a corollary demonstrating that mistakes often make the best lessons. In 1985, Lennon cofounded a computer game company that he initially ran from his college dorm room. After a seven-year struggle to keep it going, he sold out to a larger company in return for stock options. That company floundered, Lennon bought it back, and he quickly resold it to another firm. He then "coasted from boondoggle to boondoggle." Lennon keeps the details of these transactions sketchy, and he remains essentially anonymous. He did, though, keep journals of his experiences--one of which was devoted exclusively to mistakes he made along the way. Here he shares 103 of his revelations sorted into five broad categories: business fundamentals, finances, managing people, corporate strategy and politics, and personal attitudes and behavior. David Rouse
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: HarperBusiness; 1st Ed. edition (June 26, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060393939
• ISBN-13: 978-0060393939
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,851,821 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can You Learn from the Mistakes of Others?, September 24, 2001

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great resource for new managers and would-be entrepreneurs, July 6, 2001

By	Derek Teebo (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Valuable and True Information. Depressing tone., April 14, 2003

By	Harinath Thummalapalli (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Every Mistake in the Book: A Business How-NOT-To (Hardcover)

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!