How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big
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How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big

Kind of the Story of My Life

Scott Adams
Portfolio, 2013
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Editorial Rating

7

Recommendation

Don’t expect a laugh a minute from this rather earnest guide to career and life success. Scott Adams – the creator of the sardonic office-life comic strip “Dilbert” – proves an accomplished amateur life and career coach. He warns you right from the start not to take cartoonists seriously. He minimizes the jokes early on and gets right to the advice, which is mostly sincere, practical and compelling. In debunking the current hype around passion, for example, Adams admits that his passion for drawing results only from his success and the fact that drawing pays well. He suggests pursuing whatever gives you energy, be it food, work or other people. Adams recommends following systems rather than chasing goals. For example, aiming to sell your company for $50 million is a goal – but taking measured risks, trying, failing, learning, trying again and working diligently is a system. getAbstract recommends Adams’s earnest advice to young professionals who will learn a lot about success and happiness, and to anyone else looking for an occasional chuckle and some solid counsel.

Summary

Should a Cartoonist Give Life Advice?

According to Scott Adams, creator of the wildly successful comic “Dilbert,” you invite risk when you take life, health and career advice from a cartoonist. Especially when the cartoonist in question – though a wealthy celebrity – admits to an almost unbroken string of failures. Adams doesn’t prescribe a comprehensive approach. Rather, he advises you to develop your own system based on what works for you. Structure your decisions around the lessons you learn from your failures, the energy you gain from your successes and the knowledge you accumulate as you make your way through life.

Adams felt compelled to share his advice on failure and success after suffering “spasmodic dysphonia,” a condition that caused him to lose his ability to converse intelligently. He could still recite poetry and speak in front of audiences of thousands, but he couldn’t put together a full sentence in normal conversation. This malady, which began in 2005, sent him on a three-year quest to find a “cure” for what doctors then saw as an incurable condition. His voice finally returned after years of effort and experimentation, including surgeries. Today, ...

About the Author

Scott Adams, creator of “Dilbert,” is a cartoonist, best-selling author and an international speaker.

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