In the 1950s, the Jacuzzi brothers invented a bathtub designed to treat people with arthritis. The system worked wonderfully, but it was a resounding failure of sales - few arthritis sufferers had the financial ability to purchase such a product.
This failure continued until they decided to target another market: a luxury product for the wealthiest. Does the word Jacuzzi sound familiar to you?
Often times the best way to test an idea is to "test" - leaving behind excessive analysis. The more tests, the more failures, but also the more successes, and usually well above average.
Tom Kelley says: " Failing more often will make you more successful sooner "
The Honda company entered the United States market in 1959 with its low-displacement motorcycles. It was a failure, since the little ones, so adored in the narrow streets of Tokyo, were not very well received on the great American roads.
Therefore, the success with its high-displacement bikes was not a surprise at all. Mr. Soichiro Honda comments “many people dream of success. This only comes after repeated failure, and analysis of those failures. 99% of success is represented by the work done, after having made mistakes. ”
Another great example of the " trial and error culture " is Silicon Valley, the world's most successful internet and technology hub. The author Miek Malone defines Silicon Valley as a great "graveyard of ideas". But each of those business ideas that have failed, their examples and their mistakes have been recorded in the collective memory: and it has become their most important strength.
Other examples of some "mistakes" of the story:
1. Christopher Columbus wants to find a new route to the Indies (that's why we still find it difficult to find a name for the natives of India)
2. Champagne was accidentally invented by a monk named "Dom Perignon" when he accidentally fermented a bottle of wine 2 times.
3. 3M invented a glue that did not stick - and used it on a small piece of paper: today it is called Post-it.
4. Viagra: the objective was a medicine to solve blood pressure problems. It didn't work - just that it had a "special" side effect. The rest is history.
Failure is a springboard
Even if those mistakes don't leave you with that radically innovative product on a silver platter, they are a step that enriches you on the way to achieving your goals. Thomas Edison told his critics that "all those failed experiments are not errors, they are new methods that did not work."
conclusion
An innovative leader encourages his environment to take risks, and experiment. The word "failure" does not exist, it is just one more step to success. Giving freedom to innovate is giving freedom to succeed. But for this you must give freedom to fail.
