Thomas Edison had 1,093 patents for his inventions. The successful ones like the lightbulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera changed the world, but who has heard of the Edison Iron Ore Separator?
Not many, and the reason is because it was an abject failure that almost bankrupted him.[1] Edison spent 10 years and his entire fortune trying to make a machine that would separate iron ore from other lesser ores often mined with it. The machine never did work. If it had not been for him bouncing back with the phonograph, Thomas Edison’s name might have been lost to history.
Regarding his failures, Thomas Edison famously said, “I have not failed 10,000 times. I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.”
With Edison’s failures in mind, it is important to remember that sometimes Quality Improvement (QI) fails. But like Edison, the Quality professional knows that failure is part of the process.
In fact, failure is baked in: The evaluation phase of the QI cycle is when we look at our failures and successes, find the flaws, and try again. There is a persistent optimism just like Edison’s inherent to the QI cycle, and it begs us to persevere.
By Gayle Porter
