Mistake-Making: 16 Books!

 

PIC No. 94: Pails in Comparison (Feb. 24, 2025)

• 1 of 16: Mistakes Leaders Make
• Author: Dave Kraft
• Publisher: Crossway (Sept. 30, 2012, 128 pages)
• Management Bucket #13 of 20: The Crisis Bucket

Welcome to Pails in Comparison, the sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—short reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system. 

Read At Least One "Mistake" Book Every Year!

The introduction to Mastering Mistake-Making: My 25 Memorable Mistakes—And What I Learned, by yours truly and our son, Jason, features a 2021 “Q&A With Son & Pearson.”

Jason: So, Dad…you wrote a book during the COVID marathon. Way to go, but how are you coming on cleaning out the garage?

John: LOL. The garage is my next project. But, yes, this book project was an excellent distraction from the COVID news. And—wow—I’ve learned so much about mistake-making.

Jason: I noticed. And—wow—back at you…you’ve made a lot of mistakes in your career! I’ve made my mistakes too—but I missed the memo about highlighting them in a book! And why only 25 chapters? Are you saving the best mistakes for your next book?

John: Bingo! Several friends (actually, former friends) have suggested this book should have at least 200 chapters for my Top-200 mistakes. They’re probably right. As you know, your Mom (aka Joanne) was my cheerleader for this book. She also believes that leaders are readers—and kept asking me if every chapter truly connected the dots between the mistake and a book.

Jason: Explain that. Is that the big idea in the book?

John: Yes. Every chapter (mistake) follows these three bumper sticker points:
1) Here’s a mistake I made in my leadership and management years.
2) If I had only read a book on that topic, maybe I could have avoided the mistake.
3) Here’s what I learned from that mistake. (You can read the book and avoid this mistake.)

Jason: Come on, man! It can’t be that easy! Just read a book—and you’ll avoid a mistake?

[NOTE: Read Mastering Mistake-Making to learn my full answer to Jason’s convicting question. But now in this blog in 2025, I’m way behind (my mistake) on suggesting more books to help you fine-tune your mistake-making competencies. Read on.]

As I confess in Mastering Mistake-Making, I was fearful of making mistakes in my early leadership years—even though I made many. But I learned later to jump into the mistake pool with both feet—cannonball style—and then learn from the mistakes. I’m praying that this book (and others) will inspire you to also do some laps in your pool’s mistake lane.

INSIGHTS FROM THE MISTAKE-MAKING LITERATURE

My recommendation: Read at least one mistake book every year! Here are some options for you. We’ll start with a book recommended by Patrick Lencioni, who wrote: “The lessons in Mistakes Leaders Make are timeless, and this book should be required reading for every ministry leader. Keep it on your desk and read it at least once a year.”

[  ] Mistakes Leaders Make, by Dave Kraft (Crossway, Sept. 30, 2012, 128 pages) - Order from Amazon.



Across 10 short and convicting chapters, the author calls out the “blind spots” of leaders. The format is brilliant: “CCC is not a real church but a composite of churches I have worked with in 43 years of ministry. Although the church is fictitious, the mistakes are not.”

Kraft highlights eight ministry leaders (Norm, Jim, Suzie, Bob the elder, and others) and spotlights 10 mistakes these leaders made over a five- to 10-year period. After comparing King Saul to King David and studying 1 Samuel 13-15, Kraft also notes that King Saul “could very well be the poster child for mistakes leaders make.”

Don’t skip Chapter 4: “Allowing Pleasing People to Replace Pleasing God,” or Chapter 8, “Allowing Perennially Hurting People to Replace Potential Hungry Leaders.” He begins Chapter 8 with this: “Without a doubt this chapter will be the most controversial and receive the most push back.”

[  ] *The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make, by Hans Finzel (David C Cook, Oct. 1, 2007, 224 pages) - Order from Amazon.



Finzel quotes Mario Andretti: “If everything seems under control, you are not going fast enough.” From the “Dirty Delegation” chapter: “Nothing frustrates those who work for you more than sloppy delegation with too many strings attached.” Bonus Book! Read my review of Finzel’s book, The Power of Passion in Leadership: Lead From Your Heart, Not Just Your Head.

[  ] The Book of Mistakes, by Corinna Luyken (Rocky Pond Books, April 18, 2017, 56 pages)



When this book by a first-time author/illustrator landed on The Wall Street Journal business book bestseller list in 2018, I immediately ordered it. This gorgeously-illustrated coffee table-perfect children’s book will also inspire the big “kids” on your team. Read my review which includes one of my classic mistakes: why a national committee’s full day’s work landed in the hotel dumpster!

Note: My review of the above book also mentions five other books (and links) on mistake-making including:
   •The Power of Moments (my 2017 book-of-the-year), by Chip Heath and Dan Heath, notes the dinner table question from Spanx founder Sara Blakely’s dad: “What did you guys fail at this week?”
   • Johnson & Johnson’s Robert Wood "General" Johnson II proclaimed, “If I wasn’t making mistakes, I wasn’t making decisions.” Tom Peters highlights another mistake-tolerant company that fired a cannon to celebrate (not condemn) whopper mistakes. Read more: In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies, by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr. (Read my review.) 
   • In the book, What Were They Thinking? Unconventional Wisdom About Management, Jeffrey Pfeffer champions IDEO’s belief that “failing early and failing often is better than failing once, failing at the end, and failing big.” (Read my review.)

   • And Jim Collins reminded us about “First Bullets, Then Cannonballs.” He says that discipline and creativity will push you to test, test, test—with low risk bullets, then re-calibrate, fire another low risk bullet, more re-calibration—then when the empirical side of creativity has honed in on the target—let the cannonball rip! Collins has six bullet points (sorry) on “The Dangerous Lure of Uncalibrated Cannonballs.” Brilliant. Read my review: Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck—Why Some Thrive Despite Them All, by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen.
   • And speaking of little bets, giving freedom for mistake-making is a 180-degree shift from what the profs taught us. Peter Sims quotes Sir Ken Robinson, “We are educating people out of their creativity.” Most management approaches are all about reducing errors and risk—not giving license to having a good whack at a half-baked idea. “Goodness, this is God’s money we’re wasting!” Read my review for Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge From Small Discoveries, by Peter Sims. 

[   ] The Top 10 Leadership Conversations in the Bible: Practical Insights From Extensive Research on Over 1,000 Biblical Leaders, by Steve Moore (nexleader, Sept. 20, 2017, 208 pages) - Read my review.



The chapter on risk is convicting. Referencing Luke 19, Moore cautions about “the consequences of risk-averse discipleship.” And stop-and-reflect on this quote from Larry Osborne: “The journey to accidental Phariseeism begins with a blind spot, not a sin spot.”

[   ]  *101 Biggest Mistakes Managers Make and How to Avoid Them, by Mary Albright and Clay Carr (Penguin Publishing Group, Jan. 9, 1997, 336 pages)



There’s something for everyone in this book, including Mistake #2-7, “Not allowing workers to make their own mistakes.” (Order from Amazon.)

[   ] *The Book of Mistakes: 9 Secrets to Creating a Successful Future, by Skip Prichard (Center Street, Jan. 8, 2019, 191 pages) – Order from Amazon.



With significant endorsements (Michael Hyatt, Ken Blanchard, and Stephen M.R. Covey), you’ll share Mistake #4 with everyone you’re coaching: “Surrounding Yourself with the Wrong People.” Prichard writes: “Replace naysayers, doubters, and energy drainers with encouragers, winners, and motivators.”

[   ] *Mistakes Were Made (but not by me) Third Edition: Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts, by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson (Mariner Books, Aug. 4, 2020, 464 pages) - Order from Amazon.



An “Amazon Best Business Book of 2008,” The Wall Street Journal wrote, “Anecdote rich . . . A ramble through the evasive tactics we employ when we've done something wrong and don't want to face up to it . . . By turns entertaining, illuminating, and—when you recognize yourself in the stories it tells—mortifying.”

[   ] *Why Smart Executives Fail: And What You Can Learn from Their Mistakes, by Sydney Finkelstein (Penguin Publishing Group, May 25, 2004, 336 pages) - Order from Amazon.



Warren Bennis called this “a landmark book.” The Wall Street Journal called it “required reading not just for executives but for investors as well.” You’ll likely read Chapter 9 first: “Seven Habits of Spectacularly Unsuccessful People: The Personal Qualities of Leaders Who Preside over Major Business Failures.”

[   ] *4th Quarter Fumbles: Keys to Finishing Strong, by Glenn K. Gunderson Jr. with Kathy Gisi Wimbish (Xulon Press, Jan. 5, 2017, 162 pages) - Order from Amazon.



Glenn Gunderson knows his way around a pulpit and he generously shares his research on almost a dozen Biblical characters: Saul, David, Solomon, Asa, Joash, Jehoshaphat, Amaziah, Hezekiah, Josiah, Uzziah, and Manasseh. The book is endorsed by John Jackson, president of William Jessup University. Also kudos from Grant Thorne, former Green Bay Packers strength and conditioning coach, and now Director of Sport Science for the Tennessee Titans.

Pop Quiz! Name 10 or more “Famous Fumbles.” Gunderson lists his favorite 16 and you’ll love his list: Milli Vannilli, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton (and two other husbands!), The Berlin Wall, Edsel, The Titanic, Elvis Presley and “Glenn Gunderson’s hair!”

[   ] Mastering Mistake-Making: My 25 Memorable Mistakes—And What I Learned (The 10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning Workbook), by John Pearson with Jason Pearson. (Download the 25 mistakes here.) - Visit the mistakes webpage to order from Amazon.



-------------------------------
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS!
10 Minutes For Lifelong Learning With Your Team

#1. Fess up time! Describe one of your biggest mistakes—and what you learned.
#2. Should our team be more intentional about reading the mistake-making literature? Why?
#3. In Call Sign Chaos (my 2019 book-of-the-year), Jim Mattis writes, “…every time I made a mistake—and I made many—the Marines promoted me.” What should we learn from this?
#4. So…what “mistake” book will you read this year?

*Watch for my reviews here at the Pails in Comparison Blog or at John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. 

MORE RESOURCES:

   • John Pearson’s Buckets Blog
   • Subscribe: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews
   • John Pearson’s book reviews on Amazon
   • Management Buckets website
   • Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations Blog

Note: This is the NEW location for John Pearson's Pails in Comparison Blog. Slowly (!), the previous 100+ blogs posted (between 2022 and 2025) will gradually populate this blogsite, along with new book reviews each month. 

© 2025 John W. Pearson. All rights reserved. New blogs for Pails in Comparison are posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.