From Lemons to Lemonade: Squeeze Every Last Drop of Success Out of Your Mistakes

by Dean A. Shepherd

We all fail. And when it happens to you, someone's certain to point out that you can learn more from your failures than your successes. But learning from failure isn't automatic, or instantaneous. It... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0131362739
• ISBN13: 9780131362734
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: Wharton School Publishing
• Length: 207 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.2" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Fixing failures and setting things straight

How do you turn things around from failure to success? That's the question that's being answered in Dean A. Shepherd's book //From Lemons To Lemonade: Squeeze Every Last Drop Of Success Out Of Your Mistakes//. The idea is for you to learn more from failure and learn it faster, and then use those lessons to achieve breakthrough success. Let's face it, everyone fails--at least sometimes. Especially nowadays. It's what you do next that makes all the difference, and that's where this book comes in. //From Lemons To Lemonade// helps you learn all you can from your failure, instead of letting it defeat you. You'll discover proven techniques for managing the emotional trauma of failure, objectively understanding what actually happened, and applying those lessons quickly and effectively, so you can transform yesterday's failures into tomorrow's triumphs. If you suffer from string of failures, and you're tired of it and want to turn your life around, this book might just be what you need to help you capitalize on your past hardships and start earning success. Reviewed by Dominique James

"Failure is not the opposite of success."

According to Dean Shepherd, project failure can lead to one of three outcomes: (1) the person's emotional pain is so great that she or he gives up and never tries again, (2) the person primarily responsible for the failure blames others and immediately begins another project, and (3) the person experiencing failure manages emotional pain during a shorter period of time and that experience does not prevent learning from it before beginning another project. "I focus on providing strategies and techniques to help you avoid the first two outcomes in order to achieve the third." Shepherd makes good on that promise and it should be noted that his observations and suggestions will be as valuable to supervisors of those involved in projects as it is to each of those individuals. The healthiest organizations are those that have a culture of civility and candor. There is mutual trust and respect because there is transparency at all levels and in all areas. The leaders of these organizations are not risk-adverse. On the contrary, they not only encourage but also insist on, for example, principled dissent. Therefore, everyone feels free to "speak to power." In these companies, there is constant experimentation to create something new or to make something better. Failure of many experiments is inevitable and each failure is viewed as a precious learning opportunity. It is no coincidence that most of the companies on Fortune magazine's annual lists of those "Most Highly Admired" and the "Best to Work For" are also on the lists of those most profitable and most valuable. With rigor and eloquence, Shepherd addresses these challenges: 1. How manage emotions to learn from failure? 2. Why learning from failure is difficult but rewarding? 3. Which strategies for learning from failure most effective? 4. When to "pull the plug" to maximize personal growth? Note: Seth Godin also has much of great value to say about this in The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick). 5. How and why self-compassion can help us learn from failure? 6. What are the relationships between and among emotional intelligence, support from others, and learning from failure? 7. Howe and why to prepare for multiple failures? In Chapter 7, Shepherd shares additional reflections about various subjects discussed in the preceding chapters and his concluding remarks are in the form of reflections and advice to his daughter, Meg, as she is about to start kindergarten. One key point is, "I want her know that failure is not the opposite of success." A failure (including a project failure) is the opposite of success only when (a) there is nothing of value learned from it and then applied beneficially, (b) those involved are unable to manage the emotional pain and become totally risk-adverse, or (c) the person primarily responsible blames others, learns nothing, and continues the same behavior and attitude when involved in another project. By the way, most of Shepherd'