When Smart People Fail

by Carole Hyatt

At some point in our working lives we have all failed. Or will fail. Or think we have failed. But in our success-driven society, failure has been the last taboo.In this revolutionary book, Carole Hyatt and Linda Gottlieb break that final taboo to reveal an inspiring message: Not only are our defeats survivable, they can be tools for renewed success.

Genres: Psychology, Self Help, Nonfiction, Personal Development

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Matthew Quinn]

Everyone should read

[Loki]

A very interesting look at the ways we can recover and move on from our failures. The book is very career-focused, but it's easy enough to carry the ideas over to other parts of life. Longer on case studies than on lessons, but very good at using those case studies to illustrate the lessons, and very, very clear in its rejection of the kid of 'one size fits all' approach that a lot of similar books have - for instance, it pairs the story of a failed salaryman who needs to be an entrepreneur, with that of a failed entrepreneur who needs to security of corporate work, or contrasts someone who risks too much with someone who risks too little. At the end of the day, the book's advice can be boiled down to "don't be afraid to start over or try something new", but it makes the case with well-supported examples and a writerly eye that's long on both insight and compassion.

[Dee]

I picked this up after several negative things had happened in my life--namely finding out I wasn't cut out for research (something I had prepared for my whole graduate career) and having a miscarriage. I have never cared for self help books, but I thought, "It couldn't hurt." I wish I'd spent my money on a good frappachino--it would have helped more. This book seemed to be only examples of others who had far worse problems than me, and the writing was boring to boot. If you need help, a good friend or counselor can do you more good than this drivel.

[Peyton Stafford]

Interesting read in these difficult times when so many of us wonder whether we are succeeding or failing. The authors' chief insight is that even when one fails at something, that does not make oneself a failure per se, but rather one who has experienced an unwanted outcome. This made me think of the phrase that high tech people often use: fail forward fast. They look at failure as inevitable, as part of the experimental process that leads to success. So they welcome failure and try to get over it and move ahead as quickly as possible.

[Christina Mercado]

Believe it or not, I found this book in a pile of free books on the sidewalk. When Smart People Fail is NOT a self-help book; rather it is a compilation of insights drawn from hundreds of interviews with successful people from different types of careers, who have encountered some sort of 'failure.' Great find - especially during this time of depressed economic activity, it is important for us all to reframe our minds and expand our definitions of 'success'.

[Suresh]

Yet to

[Bob Conder]

I quite enjoyed this book not for the stories of suffering but for the stories of success that came out of the adventure of failing. I even quote it regularly.

[Scott Cinsavich]

A welcome anodyne when one's plan catastrophically fail.

[Elaine Gullotta]

Really good information but the version I read
was an original so the stories were very outdated (1970ish). I'm going to look for the updated version as I know many love this book.

[Adrienne]

dividing the world into "learners" and "non-learners" since 1987.