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categorized as cocktail napkin wisdom , sticktoitivity

Have you ever seen the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?

Here's a quick plot summary from Amazon.com: Dick Van Dyke stars as eccentric inventor Caractacus Potts, who creates an extraordinary car called Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. It not only drives but also flies and floats as it leads him, his two children and his beautiful lady friend, Truly Scrumptious (Sally Ann Howes), into a magical world of pirates, castles and endless adventure.

So there is your flying car and Dick van Dyke.

But what about ashes and innovation?

Well, there's a musical number where the villainous Baron Bomburst, ruler of Vulgaria, has captured Grandpa Potts (Caractacus' father) and wants him to make his royal car float just like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Potts, in frustration, exclaims to the inventors, "It's impossible!" They counter his pessimism with words of advice.

"Nothing is impossible. Courage, man... Courage!"

And then break into the song... The Roses of Successs. These are the lyrics... and a lesson for us lies within.

Every bursted bubble has a glory!
Each abysmal failure makes a point!
Every glowing path that goes astray,
Shows you how to find a better way.
So every time you stumble never grumble.
Next time you'll bumble even less!
For up from the ashes grow the roses of success!

For every big mistake you make be grateful!
That mistake you'll never make again!
Every shiny dream that fades and dies,
Generates the steam for two more tries!
There's magic in the wake of a fiasco!
It gives you that chance to second guess!
Then up from the ashes grow the roses of success!

Disaster didn't stymie Louis Pasteur!
Edison took years to see the light!
Alexander Graham knew failure well;
He took a lot of knocks to ring that bell!
So when it gets distressing it's a blessing!
Onward and upward you must press!
'Til up from the ashes grow the roses of success!

FUN FACTS: The Roses of Success music and lyrics were written by Robert and Richard Sherman. Roses can grow well in sand or ashes because it make the soil more porous.

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categorized as sticktoitivity

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categorized as cocktail napkin wisdom , sticktoitivity

In Tom Kelley’s new book The Ten Faces of Innovation, the second ‘face’ he discusses in the book is called the "Experimenter." These are folks who "strive for inspiration but never shy away from perspiration."

Walt Disney called this "sticktoitivity."

Kelley provides a few interesting examples of ‘experimenters’ who didn’t let perspiration or defeat diminish their sticktoitivity.

We celebrate the Wright Brothers’ success at Kitty Hawk, but we often overlook the fact that they tested more than 200 wing shapes and risked their lives crashing seven different flying machines in pursuit of a practical airplane.

Few people stop to consider where the name for the ubiquitous spray lubricant WD-40 came from, but it refers to the thirty-nine failed experiment in coming up with the perfect water-displacement formula before the company finally achieved success.

And British entrepreneur James Dyson reports that he built 5,127 unsuccessful prototypes of his cyclone vacuum before he hit on the design that made him a billionaire.

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categorized as sticktoitivity , uncommon knowledge