The Up Side of Down

Why Failing Well Is the Key to Success

By: Megan McArdle

Narrated by: Mia Barron

For fans of Drive, Outliers, and Daring Greatly, a counterintuitive, paradigm-shifting new take on what makes people and companies succeed.

Most new products fail. So do most small businesses. And most of us, if we are honest, have experienced a major setback in our personal or professional lives. So what determines who will bounce back and follow up with a home run? If you want to succeed in business and in life, Megan McArdle argues in this hugely thought-provoking book, you have to learn how to harness the power of failure. McArdle has been one of our most popular business bloggers for more than a decade, covering the rise and fall of some the world' s top companies and challenging us to think differently about how we live, learn, and work. Drawing on cutting-edge research in science, psychology, economics, and business, and taking insights from turnaround experts, emergency room doctors, venture capitalists, child psychologists, bankruptcy judges, and mountaineers, McArdle argues that America is unique in its willingness to let people and companies fail, but also in its determination to let them pick up after the fall. Failure is how people and businesses learn. So how do you reinvent yourself when you are down? Dynamic and punchy, McArdle teaches us how to recognize mistakes early to channel setbacks into future success. The Up Side of Down marks the emergence of an author with her thumb on the pulse whose book just might change the way you lead your life.

©2014 Megan McArdle (P)2014 Recorded Books

Everyone should read this book

What did you love best about The Up Side of Down?

The information in this book is useful in the classroom, in the work environment, in personal budget planning and in life in general. It was useful and inspiring.

Perfect is the enemy of the good

I totally recommend this book to parents, people starting a business, heck everyone.
The author uses personal and other anecdotal stories to tell a bigger story of how we are forgetting that we learn from our mistakes and not making mistakes or the effort to prevent mistakes does us no favors. One was that of bankruptcy. In America you can start a business, fail, go bankrupt, and later try again (hopefully learning from the 1st effort). In other countries you only get to fail once, with sad results for the country as a whole.
The narration coupled with the story made this audiobook a good listen. it was informative and a little entertaining.

Changed My For The Better

I don’t think I will view my life in quite the same way again. That’s for your time spent failing Mrs. McArdle!

Some good ideas. No miracles.

Any additional comments?

Not enough answers and solutions. The book uses several examples I have read before and some new ones. There are some good recommendations on how to view different situations. I am glad I listened to this book but I had hoped for some new ideas on dealing with problems. If you have read several books on this subject, don't expect a lot of new information. On the other hand it is a good overall picture of how to deal with and view failures. If you are new to this subject matter this book is a good choice.

Great news! We have freedom to try and even fail.

Loved the balanced, expertly argued approach to taking a risk, and being ok with the outcome. Thanks, Megan!