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Edison on Innovation: 102 Lessons in Creativity for Business and Beyond
book

Edison on Innovation: 102 Lessons in Creativity for Business and Beyond

by Alan Axelrod
February 2008
Intermediate to advanced content levelIntermediate to advanced
192 pages
4h 1m
English
Jossey-Bass
Content preview from Edison on Innovation: 102 Lessons in Creativity for Business and Beyond

3.11. Lesson 23: Fertile Failure

Edison's proudest boast was that he never allowed himself "to become discouraged under any circumstances." After conducting "thousands of experiments on a certain project without solving the problem," one of the inventor's associates "expressed discouragement and disgust over our having failed 'to find out anything.'" Edison responded to the disgruntled experimenter by "cheerily" assuring him "that we had learned something ... [the] certainty that the thing couldn't be done that way, and that we would have to try some other way."

Edison was interested in the results of his experiments. It almost did not matter whether or not a given result was successful—that is, immediately useful or immediately profitable. ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9780787994594Purchase book