Failing Well
February 19, 2009
Big ambitions and big achievements require a resilience honed by setbacks, new learning, and a commitment to your version of success. In his commencement address at San Francisco State University, Mayor Gavin Newsom highlighted setbacks navigated by some notable achievers:
- Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team ... because he wasn't good enough.
- Elvis Presley got an F in Music.
- Winston Churchill finished last in his class ... and later remarked that the secret to success was "going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm."
Another notable Churchill observation: "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." What historical heavyweight do you think persevered through the following?
1831: failed in business.
1832: lost his bid for a legislative seat.
1834: failed again in business.
1835: sweetheart died.
1836: had a nervous breakdown.
1838: lost his second political race.
1843: defeated for Congress.
1846:...
Conceptual creativity is the engine of business innovation. It helps us solve problems in new ways - often by integrating current knowledge with new concepts. When Henry Ford wanted a faster, cheaper way to make cars, he combined his knowledge of automobile production with concepts from meat packing (assembly lines), the US Army (interchangeable mechanical parts), and cigarette production (continuous-flow production).
