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

10.1. Lesson 90: Model It

Before embarking on any large-scale invention or innovation, Edison devoted considerable effort to modeling solutions to problems in an effort to "pre-determine the probabilities of success or failure of [a planned] device." Modeling consumed time, effort, and cash, but it potentially saved much more of each than it cost. In the late 1880s, when Edison worked diligently on the electromagnetic extraction of iron from low-grade ore, he was faced with the problem of having to experiment with some aspects of his proposed process that proved impossible to model. The means by which the ore was crushed prior to being passed through the electromagnetic separator proved to be a critical phase of the process—yet Edison discovered ...