From Mistakes to Meaning
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24 February 2026Imprint: Blink Publishing
Synopsis
While very few people start enormous companies or discover lifesaving medical cures, we all make mistakes. Yet there are lots of books about successful entrepreneurs, massive failures, and compelling scientific discoveries, and no book that helps us understand how our personalities drive mistakes and how mistakes shape our lives.
Longtime friends Michael Lynton and Joshua L. Steiner made mistakes that shaped their careers and lives, but it wasn't until the isolation of the pandemic that they began to open up to each other about them. When Lynton was the CEO of Sony Entertainment, he greenlit the film that led to the infamous North Korean hack; meanwhile, a private diary Steiner had kept as Chief of Staff at the Treasury Department became a focal point in the Clinton Whitewater scandal. As their conversation deepened, they searched for a book to guide their exploration, they came up empty. So they set out to write one themselves.
Through a revealing examination of their own stories and candid interviews with influential figures such as Larry Summers, Joanna Coles, and Malcolm Gladwell along with people from all walks of life, the authors unveil the hidden dimensions of mistakes and the universal struggle to move beyond them. Working with Alison Papadakis, Director of Clinical Psychological Studies at Johns Hopkins, they ground their observations in relevant research and unpack the difference between failures and mistakes, the stages of mistakes, and how it's possible to break the patterns that lead to misunderstandings and shame.
From Mistakes to Meaning is an essential and fascinating read, combining compelling narrative and actionable advice, showing that mistakes can be used as portals for personal growth instead of lifelong burdens.
Longtime friends Michael Lynton and Joshua L. Steiner made mistakes that shaped their careers and lives, but it wasn't until the isolation of the pandemic that they began to open up to each other about them. When Lynton was the CEO of Sony Entertainment, he greenlit the film that led to the infamous North Korean hack; meanwhile, a private diary Steiner had kept as Chief of Staff at the Treasury Department became a focal point in the Clinton Whitewater scandal. As their conversation deepened, they searched for a book to guide their exploration, they came up empty. So they set out to write one themselves.
Through a revealing examination of their own stories and candid interviews with influential figures such as Larry Summers, Joanna Coles, and Malcolm Gladwell along with people from all walks of life, the authors unveil the hidden dimensions of mistakes and the universal struggle to move beyond them. Working with Alison Papadakis, Director of Clinical Psychological Studies at Johns Hopkins, they ground their observations in relevant research and unpack the difference between failures and mistakes, the stages of mistakes, and how it's possible to break the patterns that lead to misunderstandings and shame.
From Mistakes to Meaning is an essential and fascinating read, combining compelling narrative and actionable advice, showing that mistakes can be used as portals for personal growth instead of lifelong burdens.
Details
24 February 2026
9781788709941Imprint: Blink Publishing
Reviews
'Anyone who fails to see how great this subject is will wind up being a chapter in the sequel. And to have two people who actually screwed up in the most charming and interesting and famous ways to write it? That's gold.'
'Everyone makes mistakes. The best leaders, as Lynton and Steiner powerfully show, learn from them. This book is for anyone in business and government who wants to understand how to turn blunders into breakthroughs.'
'One of the most important things in life is to learn from our mistakes, but most of us don't have the tools or the honesty - or the guts - to truly do so. Michael and Josh, in this fascinating book, were willing to be brutally candid about big mistakes they made, and that helped them realize how the steps that led them astray were rooted in hidden aspects of their personalities. Then they lead a colorful cast of fellow mistake-makers to do likewise. With this eye-opening book, you can make the same journey. You'll be glad you did.'
'To err is human; to learn from those mistakes can take divine intervention. In incredibly compelling prose, Michael and Josh discuss the most significant (and sometimes dramatic) mistakes of their professional and personal lives and the blunders of diverse people they interviewed - from Larry Summers to Malcom Gladwell. Michael and Josh articulate the emotional value of finally revealing these errors and a framework for developing insight and moving on from these regrets. As someone who held a leadership position in an Ivy League university, I only wish I had had the opportunity to read this wonderful book in the context of my own not insignificant errors. I now want to organize an entire course in psychology around it!'
