
468 ◾ The 12 Pillars of Project Excellence
10.1 Introduction
How many times did Thomas Alva Edison (1847–1931) fail in his search for the
perfect filament for the incandescent lamp? The answer is approximately 1799
times. Edison tried anything he could think of including bamboo, animal hair,
and even whiskers from a friend’s beard. In all, he tried approximately 1800
thing ...