About this quote

Treat each failed attempt as a piece of information you can use to move forward. Write down what you tried and change one thing at a time so you actually learn from the experiment. Feeling stuck? Pick the next small test, set a short deadline, and run it. After enough specific tests you start to see patterns that point to what works.

When to use it

• After my tenth prototype shorted in the garage, I told my teammate, 'I have not failed; I've just found another way that won't work,' and we rewired the circuit for the next run.
• When my thesis proof stalled for weeks, I said to my advisor, 'I have not failed,' then I split the problem into one lemma to test and moved on.
• After trying five different training plans that left me drained, I told my coach, 'I haven't failed — I've ruled out what doesn't suit me,' so we picked one small change to keep.
• When investors rejected the demo, I told the team, 'Think like Edison: we haven't failed, we've learned another way that won't work,' and we adjusted the product-market test.