Why Failure is necessary for Success

Why Failure is necessary for Success

Written & brought to you by

Ken Crause – Business Transformation Coach.

Most people learn about those who have succeeded in life and envy them. They falsely believe that their achievements are the result of their talent or natural ability or just pure luck. They falsely assume that things have always been good for those people. They just had lucky breaks, were born in the right country and the right family or something of that nature. But if you listen to the stories of so many of these now famous people you will learn something you never knew – they all came through great struggles, losses and failures – many failures. But they never gave up – they kept on trying.

THE BIGGEST WINNERS ARE ALSO THE BIGGEST LOSERS

Example – Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison held a world record of 1093 patents for inventions such as the light bulb and phonograph. He was one of history’s greatest inventors so we have much we can learn from him.

Thomas Edison's greatest challenge was the development of a practical incandescent, electric light. Contrary to popular belief, he didn't "invent" the light bulb, but rather he improved upon a 50-year-old idea. In 1879, using lower current electricity, a small carbonized filament, and an improved vacuum inside the globe, he was able to produce a reliable, long-lasting source of light.

The idea of electric lighting was not new, and a number of people had worked on, and even developed forms of electric lighting. But up to that time, nothing had been developed that was remotely practical for home use. Edison's eventual achievement was inventing not just an incandescent electric light, but also an electric lighting system that contained all the elements necessary to make the incandescent light practical, safe, and economical. After one and a half years of work, success was achieved when an incandescent lamp with a filament of carbonized sewing thread burned for thirteen and a half hours.

There are a couple of other interesting things about the invention of the light bulb: While most of the attention was on the discovery of the right kind of filament that would work, Edison actually had to invent a total of seven system elements that were critical to the practical application of electric lights as an alternative to the gas lights that were prevalent in that day.

These were the development of:

1. the parallel circuit,
2. a durable light bulb,
3. an improved dynamo,
4. the underground conductor network,
5. the devices for maintaining constant voltage,
6. safety fuses and insulating materials, and
7. light sockets with on-off switches.

Before Edison could make his millions, every one of these elements had to be invented and then, through careful trial and error, developed into practical, reproducible components. The first public demonstration of the Thomas Edison's incandescent lighting system was in December 1879, when the Menlo Park laboratory complex was electrically lighted. Edison spent the next several years creating the electric industry.

“Trial and Error”. This is the secret of champions.

THE ROAD TO SUCCESS IS LITTERED WITH FAILURE – LEARN TO ACCEPT IT.

It is a hallmark of all who will be great, that in trying they fail. BUT, they do not view failure as final or lasting. They simply view it as Edison did when asked by an interviewer about his many attempts that failed. Here is what he said;

“ I never failed any experiment. I simply succeeded in learning how it will not work, which lead me on to find a way it would.”

If you do not fail – you are not trying

If you do not try you will never succeed at anything except failure

Failure should never be taken personally – it’s not a fault unless you do not learn from it 

Have you failed at anything recently? Are you failing at something right now?

Remember that each “failure” is not you failing but rather succeeding at finding ways whatever you are trying to do will not work. By eliminating these things and pressing on to try new ideas and new ways, it is simply a matter of time before you will find what you have been looking for – the way to make it work.

Keep trying – Don’t give up.

Ken Crause – Business Transformation Coach

Email: ken@crauseco.com