The Secret to Breakthrough

What do all these discoveries have in common:

Penicillin, Plastics, X-rays, Gun Powder, Dynamite, Microwave, Vulcanized Rubber

They were all accidents.

Instead of throwing out their failed experiments and moving on, these scientists did something very different:

They asked why. 

Breakthrough insights are usually hidden within failed experiments. As entrepreneurs, we often run away from failure and use terms like pivot to justify our sudden change in direction. But a pivot not grounded in learning is just a disguised “see what sticks” strategy.

You might get lucky but chances are high you’re NOT going to break through a certain set ceiling of achievement this way… unless like these scientists, you hunker down and get to the root cause of these failures.

Better yet, remove “failure” from your vocabulary:

“There is no such thing as a failed experiment- only unexpected outcomes. ”

– Buckminster Fuller