Synopses & Reviews
Everything you want out of life is in that bubbling vat of failure. The trick is to get the good stuff out.
Scott Adams has likely failed at more things than anyone youand#8217;ve ever met, including his corporate career, his inventions, his investments, and two restaurants. So how did he go from hapless office worker to the creator of Dilbert, one of the worldand#8217;s most famous syndicated comic strips, in just a few years?
In this funny yet serious book full of personal stories, Adams shares the strategies he has used to invite failure in, embrace it, then pick its pocket. Among his contrarian lessons:
and#149; Goals are for losers. Systems are for winners.
and#149; A combination of mediocre skills can make you surprisingly valuable.
and#149; You can manage your odds in a way that makes you look lucky to others.
Review
and#8220;Adams has a funny, refreshingly considered set of ideas about how to find successand#8212;and what that success will look like when one gets there.and#8221;
and#8212;Kirkus Reviews
and#8220;Scott Adams has drawn nearly 9,000 Dilbert cartoons since the strip began, in 1989, and his cynical take on management ideas, the effectiveness of bosses, and cubicle life has affected the worldview of millions. But he built his successful career mainly through trial and errorand#8212;a whole lot of error, to be exact.
and#8212;Harvard Business Review
Synopsis
Blasting cliched career advice, the contrarian pundit and creator of Dilbert recounts the humorous ups and downs of his career, revealing the outsized role of luck in our lives and how best to play the system.
Scott Adams has likely failed at more things than anyone you ve ever met or anyone you ve even heard of. So how did he go from hapless office worker and serial failure to the creator ofDilbert, one of the world s most famous syndicated comic strips, in just a few years? InHow to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Adams shares the game plan he s followed since he was a teen: invite failure in, embrace it, then pick its pocket.
No career guide can offer advice that works for everyone. As Adams explains, your best bet is to study the ways of others who made it big and try to glean some tricks and strategies that make sense for you. Adams pulls back the covers on his own unusual life and shares how he turned one failure after another including his corporate career, his inventions, his investments, and his two restaurants into something goodand lasting. There s a lot to learn from his personal story, and a lot of entertainment along the way. Adams discovered some unlikely truths that helped to propel him forward. For instance:
Goals are for losers. Systems are for winners.
Passion is bull. What you need is personal energy.
A combination of mediocre skills can make you surprisingly valuable.
You can manage your odds in a way that makes you look lucky to others.
Adams hopes you can laugh at his failures while discovering some unique and helpful ideas on your own path to personal victory. As he writes: This is a story of one person s unlikely success within the context of scores of embarrassing failures. Was my eventual success primarily a result of talent, luck, hard work, or an accidental just-right balance of each? All I know for sure is that I pursued a conscious strategy of managing my opportunities in a way that would make it easier for luck to find me. "
About the Author
Scott Adams is the creator of Dilbert, one of the most popular comic strips of the past quarter century. He has been a full-time cartoonist since 1995, after 16 years as a technology worker for companies like Crocker National Bank and Pacific Bell. His many bestsellers include The Dilbert Principle and Dogbertand#8217;s Top Secret Management Handbook. He lives outside of San Francisco.