Running a business requires calculated risk. Pure and simple. When you succeed, you count those risks as entirely worthwhile. You may even pat yourself on the back for your bravado.

But what happens when you fail?

Our culture is one that places high emphasis on risk that leads to success and a high price on risk that leads to failure. Two business owners can take the exact same risk, and, for reasons beyond both their control, one can succeed and the other can fail. The one who succeeds is seen as a hero, while the one who fails is remembered as a fool.

It’s too bad, really. Of those two, which is really the wiser for his or her experience?

Your business must assume some risk…it’s the nature of the beast. Another part of this nature is that not all of the risk will pay off. Sometimes you’re going to lose. What do you do with those failures?

Failure is among the best teachers. Failure is an excellent strategy for innovation. Thomas Edison tried 2,000 times to create a light bulb. He is famously quoted as saying, “I did not fail. I found 2,000 ways not to make a light bulb.” Another example is WD-40, that time-tested lubricant that’s good for anything from squeaky hinges to (some will swear) arthritis. WD-40 stands for “Water Displacement, Formula #40.” In other words, it was the 40th attempt to make a formula that works. This means that somewhere in the company’s archives is a dusty file folder with 39 failed attempts.

Another innovator once said that the “fastest way to succeed is to double your rate of failure.”

I’m sure we’ve all been in the boardrooms and taken part in the discussions about how to “manage” risk and minimize failures. We talk about exit strategies, testing, focus groups, polling, market research, developing multiple approaches, etc. And, more often than not, CEO’s obsessed with risk do the logical thing: NOTHING. Don’t rock the boat, or it just might tip over. Doing nothing earns nothing in return. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Personally, I’m a big believer in Jerry Garcia’s philosophy: “the cards aren’t worth a damn if you don’t lay ‘em down.”

What slight chemical adjustment (speaking of the Grateful Dead) made such a huge difference between WD-39 and WD-40? What modest alteration in Edison’s 2,000th attempt led to a successful light bulb? At the point that you decide to give up and do nothing out of fear that you’re going to fail, what small change in thinking might make the difference and lead to success on your very next attempt?

Of course, you don’t know. We never do. We aren’t clairvoyant. If we were, there would be no such thing as risk. But there is, and we have to take it.

It all boils down to learning to view failure as a strategy for innovation. Want to succeed? Double your rate of failure. Plow through those 39 failed formulas. Be diligent in your 1,999 attempts in the dark.

Don’t confuse this with funneling dollar-tokens into a slot machine in a desperate attempt to break even. It’s not the same thing. That kind of stubbornness isn’t smart. Getting up , dusting yourself off, learning from your mistakes, and moving forward is.

Earlier, I referred to an innovator that said “the fastest way to succeed is to double your rate of failure.” This innovator’s name was Thomas J. Watson, Sr. He was a shy loner. He quit his first job after one day…his second after a year. He became a traveling salesman. He was fired, then moved, and continued selling, and was fired again. After this, he pulled up stakes and moved yet again, eventually begging his way into a company that sold cash registers. Several years later, after finally finding his niche, he was one of the top salesmen in that company. After some legal troubles, he left the company and took over a small upstart called Computing Tabulating Recording Company (how’s that for a mouthful?). Several years later, after phenomenal growth, he renamed the company to International Business Machines…IBM. Watson remained the head of IBM for the next 30 years.

“The fastest way to succeed is to double your rate of failure.”

By the way, Watson’s famous motto at IBM was “THINK.” That’s the reasoning behind the company’s “ThinkPad” brand laptops. “Think.”

Thinking is something. It’s a start. Action should follow, if you plan to succeed…even if sometimes that action leads to failure.