The Not-To-Do List : The Surprisingly Simple Art of Success

We systematically overestimate the role of success factors; but at the same time, we systematically disregard the role of failure factors. Why? Because successful companies, projects and people make it into the media. Flops, on the other hand - no one wants to hear about them. Deadbeats don't usually write autobiographies. And in the rare event that they do, they fail to find a publisher or at the very least an audience.

So, we study these shining examples and delude ourselves that success is the result of a series of carefully orchestrated success factors, when it's really about avoiding the things that kill success. Tip: Why not visit the graveyards of failed companies, projects, people, marriages and families instead? That's where you'll learn the most - namely, what to avoid.'