Table of Contents Praise Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1 - Starting Fires Chapter 2 - Resistance to Change Chapter 3 - Think Big Chapter 4 - Leading From the Back Chapter 5 - I Want to Throw Up Chapter 6 - Pause and Celebrate the Moment Elevating Continuous Improvement to a Formal Process Chapter 7 - Frank Sinatra, Henry Mancini, and Herb Lee Chapter 8 - Hire for Attitude Chapter 9 - Family, God, and the Green Bay Packers Chapter 10 - Learn From Your Mistakes Chapter 11 - Pushing Yourself to Fail Chapter 12 - Break a Rib Chapter 13 - Winning and Losing the Negotiation Game Chapter 14 - Never Threaten to Quit Anything Chapter 15 - Answer the Question, Please Chapter 16 - Anaerobic Creativity Chapter 17 - Continuous Improvement Chapter 18 - Losing Control Chapter 19 - More Valuable Than Money Chapter 20 - Investing in People: The HR ROI Chapter 21 - Let Me Help You Find a New Job Chapter 22 - Negative Listening Chapter 23 - Even Geniuses Can Fail Chapter 24 - Keep Your Edge Chapter 25 - Confronting Fear and Surviving the Epic Crisis Chapter 26 - Blow It Up Chapter 27 - Why Wait? Chapter 28 - I Can’t Find My Ball Chapter 29 - It’s the Economy, Stupid Chapter 30 - Change Is My Drug of Choice Postmortem About the Author “People from every walk of life can learn something from Ralph Heath’s Celebrating Failure. Heath’s book tells us how even the toughest failures can, in the end, fuel tremendous success. Encouraging originality, responding to changes, and thinking big are just some of the approaches Heath advocates to help people to learn from failure and achieve their dreams.” —U.S. Senator Russ Feingold “Fear of failure is perhaps the worst affliction a manager can have because it leads to creative paralysis and inhibited growth. And the fear is understandable. Despite all the clichés coming from higher management, such as, ‘We reward mistakes, ’ and ‘If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying hard enough,’ most managers know that mistakes are more often punished than rewarded. Into this cultural reality now comes Ralph Heath’s reassuring words about failure not only as teacher but as a power that leads to greater success. I highly recommend this helpful book.” —James A. Autry, author of The Servant Leader: How to Build a Creative Team, Develop Great Morale, and Improve Bottom-Line Performance “There is no better way to learn than by experience. Celebrating Failure shows how we can learn from our so-called failures to build a path to success. Ralph has found a fresh approach that will reduce the fear of failure and increase your confidence. I highly recommend this book for any sales professional.” —Jeff Thull, author of Mastering the Complex Sale and Exceptional Selling “Ralph Heath shows how and why you can’t go far with a small idea. He and the firm he built personify the power of taking risks and thinking big, built on the philosophy that the more mistakes you’re willing to make, and the faster you learn, the better you get.” —Tim Williams, founder of Ignition Consulting Group and author of Take a Stand for Your Brand: Building a Great Agency Brand From the Inside Out “Heath’s account of failure and triumph is joyful and inspiring. His personal journey with failure and success is applicable to both school and business leaders. Helping students to succeed is fraught with failure, but viewing these failures as a necessary precursor to success is inspiring. If ever school leaders needed inspiration, it is today. Heath’s account makes me want to share my own failures with him, experience his warm and encouraging response, and try once again to make a difference in the lives of the next generation.” —Susan H. Alexander, district administrator, Markesan District Schools, Markesan, Wisconsin “Given the pace of change in today’s business environment, developing a culture of intelligent risk- taking is no longer an option. It is merely the ‘ante’ to keep pace with changes in your industry, your competition, and your customers. The practical approaches outlined in Celebrating Failure can help you develop a healthy environment of risk-taking that is essential today and into the future.” —Gregg Billmeyer, senior director, staff operations, Office of the President and CEO, Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. “Most of us focus on avoiding failure, so we take as few chances as possible. But for Ralph, failure is always a genuine option. Which is probably why he created such an interesting and successful company. Ralph’s book will help every professional who most probably spends his or her life focused on avoiding failure to finally embrace it and become more successful by doing so.” —Robb High, business development consultant to the agency industry, former COO of Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners “Forget the fear, the embarrassment, and the guilt typically associated with failure and see how it can be your greatest tool in achieving success.” —Terry Gillette, founder and former president of The Company Store “Everyone has heard these pithy statements about embracing failure found on inspiring posters, or in graduation cards: ‘Better to have tried and failed than never to have tried.’ ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained.’ But few know how to live those statements. In Ralph Heath’s book, Celebrating Failure, he turns poster into practice by providing a brilliant discourse on building a corporate culture that takes you beyond those simple statements.” —Taggert J. Brooks, associate professor of economics, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse “For the small business owner like me, Ralph Heath’s message is clear: To succeed one must not strive to avoid failure but rather expect and celebrate when it appears, as it must. He provides clear thinking as to why perfection is not to be expected, and, in fact, must not be sought. Celebrating Failure will change your way of seeing the world.” —Joe Friel, president, TrainingBible Coaching, LLC, and TrainingPeaks, LLC “An open and honest assessment of 30 years in management. Reading Celebrating Failure should quell the fears of the new hire and re-open the learning curve of the seasoned executive.” —David F. Vite, president and CEO, Illinois Retail Merchants Association “I’ve come to know Ralph through our local racing cycling community, a group of people for whom failure is definitely not embraced! After reading the book, you’ll understand why we appreciate his participation and the perspective he brings. He possesses the ability to look at things differently and makes you stop and think and ask, ‘Why?’ Enjoy the stories and his humor. We do.” —Dan Paulus, vice president, sales and marketing, Digital Technology International “Celebrating Failure is a blueprint for success. Thanks for a great read!” —Tony Stella, investment advisor, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company “Celebrating Failure is a must-read for educators. Ralph Heath’s examples and stories should encourage any executive or administrator to acknowledge failure as a way to grow and learn. He clearly illustrates that failure can teach you to succeed. There is so much good information for school administrators and parents, which would hopefully be passed on to kids.” —Ann Mullally, retired school principal, Lawton Chiles Elementary School, Gainesville, Florida (2003 National Distinguished Principal) Copyright © 2009 by Ralph Heath All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher, The Career Press. CELEBRATING FAILURE EDITED AND TYPESET BY KARA KUMPEL Cover design by The DesignWorks Group Printed in the U.S.A. by Courier To order this title, please call toll-free 1-800-CAREER-1 (NJ and Canada: 201-848-0310) to order using VISA or MasterCard, or for further information on books from Career Press. The Career Press, Inc., 3 Tice Road, PO Box 687, Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417 www.careerpress.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Heath, Ralph, 1951- Celebrating failure : the power of taking risks, making mistakes, and thinking big / by Ralph Heath. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-1-60163-064-3 eISBN : 97-8-16016388-6 1. Success in business. 2. Business failures. 3. Failure (Psychology) 4. Risk-taking (Psychology) I. Title. HF5386.H349 2009 650.1--dc22 2008054043