Mistakes I Made at Work

25 Influential Women Reflect on What They Got Out of Getting It Wrong

By: Jessica Bacal

Narrated by: Karen Saltus

Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

High-achieving women share their worst mistakes at work - and how learning from them paved the way to success. Named by Fast Company as a "Top 10 Book You Need to Read This Year", in Mistakes I Made at Work, a Publishers Weekly Top 10 Business Book for Spring 2014, Jessica Bacal interviews 25 successful women about their toughest on-the-job moments. These innovators across a variety of fields - from the arts to finance to tech - reveal that they’re more thoughtful, purposeful and assertive as leaders because they learned from their mistakes, not because they never made any.

Interviewees include: Cheryl Strayed, best-selling author of Wild, Anna Holmes, founding editor of Jezebel.com, Kim Gordon, founding member of the band Sonic Youth, Joanna Barsch, Director Emeritus of McKinsey & Company, Carol Dweck, Stanford psychology professor, Ruth Ozeki, New York Times best-selling author of Tale for the Time Being, And many more!

Ideal for millennials just starting their careers, for women seeking to advance at work, or for anyone grappling with issues of perfectionism, Mistakes I Made at Work features fascinating and surprising anecdotes, as well as tips for listeners.

©2014 Jessica Bacal (P)2014 Gildan Media LLC

Truthful and Helpful

This was a great read. Really liked the first half. The narration was a little confusing when it shifted to different stories with the same voice, but overall the book really resonated with me.

Encouragement for women

A very interesting book. For those who are feeling like an outsider when instituting new ideas in the workplace and society. A combination of anecdotes and actionable tips, this book is realistic and sensible about executing on your wildest dreams.

The narrator is an unfortunate choice. I believe her voice is better suited to the romance genre. Too breathy and a bit too perky for these real and beautiful stories of life.

Incredible Narration & Some Remarkable Women

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Some of the chapters had a feminist bite to them. Perhaps that is representative of the people interviewed, but I believe one can be successful, beautiful, powerful & feminine without this bitter & distracting tone.

What was most disappointing about Jessica Bacal’s story?

Liberal agenda...If you consider yourself a conservative, there may be more bones than meat here for you.

Any additional comments?

Karen Saltus does a WONDERFUL job narrating!! Perhaps the most enjoyable part of this book for me was how she changed her style, speed, tone etc for each one. Truly amazing!

A must read for every woman!

Mistakes are part of life and the Learning process. Making mistakes is not the issue, it's what we do afterwards that matters.

Few BIG mistakes. Still validating if you're human

Many great stories. I appreciated understanding the perspectives of many working women. I could relate and learn from them.
Seemed like the side of social media we want and could use more of. Though very little was grandious about their blunders. Just regular humans (of the publicly high-achieving female variety).
I would have enjoyed stories of the many great and non-working women among us, but I understand this is a career-focused book about mistake making.

Good source of insight

An eye opener for a 30 something woman trying to excel in a corporate environment

My husband loved it, so did I

Would you consider the audio edition of Mistakes I Made at Work to be better than the print version?

Because I have a background in media, and have recorded many audio tracks in my lifetime, the narrator's pitch and respiration rhythm was a little off-putting at the beginning. But the content was so compelling, that I stuck with it and thanked my self for going beyond my own bias.

My husband listened to portions of this book when I had it on the car's speakers: he loved it and wanted to listen to all of it. Unencumbered by the female marketing of the cover, he was attentive to the narrative and started a conversation with me about one of the contributor's arguments.

It was a welcome surprise, coming from a guy who has turned down every invitation to come to yoga with me. At the end of our conversation, he said everyone should listen to this book. I appreciated that he didn't say "every woman" or "every young person." He said "everyone."

What did you like best about this story?

Every contributor provided amazing insight and the consistent format for every contribution really propelled the flow of the entire book.

Which character – as performed by Karen Saltus – was your favorite?

My favorite character/contributor is Carl S. Dweck --the last one in the book.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Dweck's portion awakened me for the first time to the concept of "growth mindset," something I have been applying every day since I finished the book.

Great idea, poor execution

Beware, the narrator has a tendency to start each sentence with an audible deep breath. I tried to tune it out. I’m a few stories in and I keep getting upset. I don’t see these stories as mistakes that were made. Most sound like totally normal responses to shitty situations- being told you’re having a meeting and then being handed a letter outlining your “inappropriate” behavior? Anyone would be blindsided by that not know what to say. As a woman breaking into her field, I was hoping for inspiring stories. So far I’ve just been angered by how mistreated the writers were.

I couldn't even get through the first chapter...

What disappointed you about Mistakes I Made at Work?

So disappointed by the choice of narrator for this audio book-I couldn't even make it through the first chapter.

Very disappointed by the narrator

Very disappointed by the choice of narrator for this audio book. I pushed through but I feel like I missed a lot of the book because I was so distracted by the narrator.