A short Optimize +1 segment by Brian Johnson reflecting on WD-40’s origin story and Thomas Edison’s perspectives on failure and perseverance. Johnson recounts WD-40’s name meaning ("water displacement, 40th formula"), cites Edison quotes about learning from failed attempts and the importance of persistence, and encourages continued experimentation.
Chapters
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another optimize +1. In our last +1, we had fun exploring the origin story of WD40. As you may recall, our super lubricant was named after the number of attempts it took for its creator to figure out a viable concoction to prevent corrosion. In fact, as we discussed, according to WD40 company lore, WD40 literally stands for water displacement for 40th formula. That's the name straight out of the lab book used by the chemist who developed the product back in 1953. Now, I was thinking about that line on the trail this morning. I could actually see our chemist friend in his lab dutifully going through experiment after experiment after experiment times 40 in search of a formula that worked. In my mind's eye. He's wearing a lab coat. He's got a bunch of beakers full of a bunch of weird bubbling stuff. Goggles on, clipboard on the desk. He's experimenting, testing different things, seeing what works, what doesn't. The 39 formulas that didn't work, those weren't failures per se. They were just data. Which makes me think of Edison. What did he say about failures again? Enter Google Edison failure quotes. Enter a gold mine of gems from Goodreads. Thanks, guys. First, the gem I was looking for. In the context of figuring out the light bulb, Edison is said to have said, I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. And while we're all hanging out, how about a few more wisdom gems from Edison? He says, I quote, again, many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. Andy says we often miss opportunity because it's dressed in overalls and looks like work. I love that one. And this one. Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Plus, he says, when you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this, you haven't. And he says our greatest weakness lies in giving up the most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. That's today's plus one. Let's put on our lab coats and go run some more experiments. Run enough and the truth of this final Edisonian wisdom gem may come to fruition. He tells us if we all did the things we are really capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.
