reviews-innovation

The Innovation Paradox: The Success of Failure, the Failure of Success (Free Press, $11) is the paperback edition of last year’s more boldly titled hardback, Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins: The Paradox of Innovation. The new title seems to reflect a slight retrenchment on the main theme, since it downplays the need to make …

Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins by Richard Farson and Ralph Keyes is unique. It is a business book that makes its case with charm. Marilyn’s “Must” Reads (Machlowitz Consultants, Inc.)

This book relates business innovation to paradox. It explores the fallacy of labeling events as success or failure. Sample practical suggestion: Retain unorthodox, difficult, imaginative employees because innovation depends on their creativity.

The theme of this short and interesting book is that the less we scurry after success and run from failure, the more likely we are to succeed. For success, failures must be tolerated. In short chapters and sections, the authors drive their lessons home, using stories and well-written text. The book gives some good insights …

While slim, their book … make[s] a compelling case for “managing in the postfailure era” by supporting the type of traditionally discouraged behavior that resulted in breakthrough creativity Contrarian food for thought.

How can you make companies, and the people who work inside them, more adventurous? The authors offer an intriguing and paradoxical solution: In order to stop demonizing failure, we need to stop deifying success. “Stressing winning inhibits daring. Those who take genuine risks know that failure is the norm, success the exception,” they write.