Will Your Next Mistake Be Fatal?: Avoiding the Chain of Mistakes That Can Destroy Your Organization (Hardcover)

by Robert Mittelstaedt (Author) "Doing things right in business has gotten a lot of press in recent years..." (more)
Key Phrases: managing multiple mistakes, mistake chain, execution mistakes, United States, Will Your Next Mistake Be Fatal, Air Florida (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
What catastrophes have in common -- and how to keep them from happening to you!

Introducing M3: the first systematic approach to

Managing mistakes so they don't lead to disaster
Building systems that prevent 'failure chains' from spiraling out of control
Avoiding failures in preparation, strategy, execution, and culture
Reducing the impact and cost of the mistakes you do make
Also includes coverage of the unique 'mistake chains' facing entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Every business disaster has one thing in common: the people in charge never saw it coming. The warnings were there. They didn't have to wreck their companies and their careers. But they let it happen. This book can keep it from happening to you.

You will make mistakes. If you don't, you're not taking enough risk. But you can make fewer of them. You can catch them early. Keep them cheap. Learn from them. Whether you're in a global enterprise or a garage startup, Robert Mittelstaedt shows how. His techniques apply to everything from culture to strategy, customer safety to market share. They won't just help you avoid catastrophe: they'll help you improve profitability and business value, too.

Stay on track. Stay off the front page of The Wall Street Journal. Read this book.

From the Back Cover

What catastrophes have in common -- and how to keep them from happening to you!

Introducing M3: the first systematic approach to

• Managing mistakes so they don't lead to disaster
• Building systems that prevent 'failure chains' from spiraling out of control
• Avoiding failures in preparation, strategy, execution, and culture
• Reducing the impact and cost of the mistakes you do make

Also includes coverage of the unique 'mistake chains' facing entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Every business disaster has one thing in common: the people in charge never saw it coming. The warnings were there. They didn't have to wreck their companies and their careers. But they let it happen. This book can keep it from happening to you.

You will make mistakes. If you don't, you're not taking enough risk. But you can make fewer of them. You can catch them early. Keep them cheap. Learn from them. Whether you're in a global enterprise or a garage startup, Robert Mittelstaedt shows how. His techniques apply to everything from culture to strategy, customer safety to market share. They won't just help you avoid catastrophe: they'll help you improve profitability and business value, too.

Stay on track. Stay off the front page of The Wall Street Journal. Read this book.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Wharton School Publishing (October 8, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0131913646
• ISBN-13: 978-0131913646
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #733,451 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent material and so relevant for today's businesses..., October 25, 2004

By	Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

As I was part of one of the biggest corporate mistakes in U.S. history, I thought it would be interesting to read Will Your Next Mistake Be Fatal? by Robert E. Mittelstaedt, Jr. I wasn't disappointed... This should be required reading in all organizations.

Chapter list: The Power of M3 and the Need to Understand Mistakes; Execution Mistakes; Execution Mistakes and Successes as Catalysts for Change; Strategy - How Do You Know It's a Mistake?; Physical Disasters with Cultural Foundations and Business Implications; Cultures that Create "Accidents"; Mistakes as Catalysts for Cultural Change; Economics at Work: Watching Entire Industries Lose It; Mistakes Aren't Just for Big Companies - Small Company Chains; Making M3 Part of Your Culture for Success; Summary of Insights; References; Index

I started working for Enron Broadband back in 1998 when it first got going. I was laid off on September 1st, 2001 when the Portland office closed. Little did any of us know that the entire company would melt down just three months later. Did they plan for that to be the culmination of all their actions? No, but no one in power saw the signs and had enough courage to stop the string of mistakes that ultimately doomed the company. Mittelstaedt uses Enron and numerous other companies to show how a culture of tolerating mistakes can lead a company to the brink of disaster (and many times right over the edge). But instead of just concentrating on "when bad things happen to good companies", he also covers how strong leadership can allow a company to survive and prosper in adverse conditions (like J&J's handling of the Tylenol tampering case). There's a lot of material here that is excellent reading and should cause organizations to ponder their ways.

There are 38 "insights" that summarize the main teachings and help the reader to focus on making the necessary changes for success. Insights such as "fly the airplane" and "you cannot afford even a whiff of an ethical lapse" are easy to remember and should quickly bring you back to a proper attitude for running a successful and thriving organization. Oh, and the "M3" you see in the chapter list refers to "managing multiple mistakes". Once you start to implement a systematic approach to M3, you won't guarantee that your company will never make an error or misstep again. But you will be assured of not letting things get totally beyond control.

Excellent book, and it's so very relevant to today's business environment. A highly recommended read...

65 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fatal Attraction , May 24, 2005

By	John G. Hilliard (Toronto Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The one comforting realization this author brings out in his book is that significant or catastrophic events are usually caused by a long trail of mistakes. Thus, unlike say a car crash that can be caused by one simple mistake, the business version of a car crash is preventable if you can identify the mistakes. The author calls this the process of managing multiple mistakes. If you can find a away to break a chain of mistakes, a major issue can be avoided. This book attempts to educate the reader about the avoidable traps that business people tend to set for themselves. The author details many of the higher profile blunders over the past 30 years to show the reader the patterns and to act as case studies. It attempts to help the reader learn from the experiences of others to improve the odds that the reader can also avoid disasters.

The author believes that there are lessons to be learned from looking at the mistake patterns and common themes that have taken place in other organizations. The author believes that most organizations and people for that matter, lack the drive to truly investigate and examine the mistakes they make individually and in business, thus learning opportunities are lost. The author believes then that by looking at others mistakes, it can at least for us, lead to learning. Overall I found the book to be informative and interesting. It was sort of like watching a series of train wrecks in slow motion. It also provides an interesting way to view behavior to help the reader in identifying the chain of mistakes before you become one of the footnotes of history. The book is well worth your time.

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Packed with Knowledge!, July 14, 2005

By	Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract.com" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Robert Mittelstaedt has written a rare, commendable book. He manages to address a significant business topic - the phenomenon of major corporate blunders - in an original, insightful and entertaining way. In this intriguing volume, he cites case after fascinating case where a series of seemingly small errors went uncorrected until a whole house of cards marked "faulty assumptions" came crashing down. The biggest mistake you can make is assuming that a fatal blunder just couldn't happen in your organization, and the second biggest is ignoring the warning signs that disaster is just ahead. The key, Mittelstaedt advises, is to learn to admit that something has gone wrong before the situation spirals out of control. We encourage every thoughtful business professional to read this substantive contribution to the field of risk management and disaster prevention.