When struggling with how to get your business off the ground, it’s easy to turn to the stories of successful people for inspiration. They’ve achieved their wildest dreams, so by following in their footsteps, you should be able to do the same, right? Wrong. Because most successful people leave their failures out of their success stories.
How many times did they fail before they finally got it right? What didn’t work for them? Why didn’t it work? It’s refreshing to see books from entrepreneurs who embrace their mistakes and acknowledge their shortcomings. Sometimes, a great idea just doesn’t work. But giving up doesn’t have to be your only option. By diving headfirst into the possibility of failure, you won’t be afraid to take risks and explore new possibilities in your business. Check out these five books on failure, and get ready to learn how to succeed.
Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well by Amy C. Edmondson
Award-winning Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson dives into our understanding of failure in a culture torn on its value. Should we be avoiding failure at all costs, or should we face failure head-on, unafraid of the consequences? But how do we differentiate good failures from bad, and how can we “fail well”? Edmondson looks at three archetypes of failure — basic, complex, and intelligent — and teaches readers how to reduce failure that is unproductive and learn from all other kinds of failure.
Humans are likely to make mistakes, but by taking calculated risks, we’ll be able to figure out what’s avoidable and stop it before it happens. “With vivid, real-life stories from business, pop culture, history, and more, Edmondson gives us specifically tailored practices, skills, and mindsets to help us replace shame and blame with curiosity, vulnerability, and personal growth.”
Crash Course: A Founder’s Journey to Saving Your Startup and Sanity by Ricardo Jiménez
In Crash Course, Ricardo Jiménez provides a near play-by-play of what happens when you pour your spirit, your resources and your aspirations into a product that you fully believe will be successful, but, ultimately, fails. From 2010 to 2016, Jiménez and a partner researched, hustled, connected and pitched investors, partners, sellers, distributors and customers on his dream of a line of plush toys, Plushkies — an idea that didn’t succeed despite the hard work put into it.
Jiménez has not only created a quasi-“how-to” on what it actually takes to be an entrepreneur, but he also provides a deeper dive into the spiritual fortitude needed to continue on the entrepreneurial path. “I want to help people understand and grow from the value they can extract from not succeeding.” His book is not meant to dissuade the next entrepreneur, but rather provide a clear-eyed view of what this journey truly requires.
(Read the review on BookTrib.)
Why Most Things Fail: Evolution, Extinction and Economics by Paul Ormerod
You can’t look at failure without first understanding the nature of failure itself. What makes failure so common in every part of our lives, from biology to economy to society? Author Paul Ormerod takes a look at some of the common flaws and patterns of failure, diving into the economic assumptions we make and suggesting practical solutions.
He discusses how “the Iron Law of Failure applies to business and government, and reveals how you can achieve optimal social and economic outcomes by properly adapting to a world characterized by constant change, evolution and disequilibrium.” So what will it take for you to become one of the few who succeed? This theoretical economist and successful businessman just might have the answers.
Ditch the Act: Reveal the Surprising Power of the Real You for Greater Success by Leonard Kim and Ryan Foland
Showing vulnerability and authenticity is a better strategy in business and life than the stereotypical polished persona you always believed would win friends and influence people. The title says it perfectly: Ditch the Act. These well-credentialed authors – recognized as leading marketers on Top TED Talk lists, by Entrepreneur magazine and Inc. magazine – note that it is easy to listen to someone else’s tales about how they overcame failure to come out successfully at the other end. But it’s difficult to apply that thinking, that vulnerability, to our own lives and project that image. Admittedly, the process can be scary.
“Revealing your failures and weaknesses is an essential element in building and sustaining a viral personal brand to help propel your relationships, your career and/or your business.” The authors pepper the book with personal anecdotes and lay out a practical eight-step “Expose Yourself Process” designed to help readers use the fresh exposure and lessons to drive brand differentiation and growth.
(Read the review on BookTrib.)
Life Lessons from a Total Failure by M.J. Dougherty
Motivational speaker, actor and first-time author M.J. Dougherty knows that failing, although discouraging, is sometimes necessary in order to move on to bigger and better. After a number of decisions didn’t go Dougherty’s way, he began to realize that he could benefit from the lessons he was learning along his road of self-discovery.
From leaving home as a teenager to living and working abroad, starting his own small business, to facing challenges and accepting defeat, this author knows failure inside and out. But, he also knows what it’s like to take that failure and turn it around, to let go of it. “It is a tough pill to swallow and a hard lesson to learn, but taking responsibility and stopping the victim mentality is essential to moving on and letting go of your past.” Sometimes, all it takes is a little self-reflection.
(Check out this interview with the author.)
