I learnt recently that WD-40 stands for “Water Displacement 40”. The 40 means it was his 40th attempt at developing the product. The inventor Norm Larsen had tried 39 times to find a way to displace water to stop rusting in the aerospace industry. When he finally succeeded on his 40th attempt he created a … More Could you fail 39 times?
“I hate the word failure and wish it never existed,” I stated as strongly as I could as we reflected on some past experiences. I shared that the problem with failure is its opposite seems to be pass. The problem with pass is it has a strong mental connection to school or uni, where you … More Re-framing Failure
“Failure’s not fun. But failure is required. Failure in the service of learning, of experimenting, of making things – this is essential. When you’re learning to walk, no one criticizes you when you fall down. Parents understand that you do it wrong and then you do it right. But that’s about the last time you … More Shame and failure
Recently, one of our business divisions was audited by an external auditor, and the comment was made that a particular process is the best that she’s seen in the industry. The irony is that these processes came about because we failed, and by that I mean failed significantly, three or four years ago. This got … More Often ‘Being the Best’ first requires failure
I failed at school. The best mark I received was an internally assessed A1 in School Cert science. It belonged to another student called Andrew Nichol and was whisked away as quickly as it arrived. I left school at 17 barely able to read, average at the more complex forms of maths, but strangely very … More Why you should believe in failures like me.
People Matter ∴ Do Good 