In desperation, Edison picked up a notebook, and showed the reporter that they had tested over 3,000 substances, trying to find the right material for the bulb’s filament.

Some didn’t work at all. Some worked poorly. None were commercially viable. "It must be discouraging," said the reporter, "to have 3,000 failures."

"Not at all," said Edison. "We now know over 3,000 things that won’t work." So confident was he of finding the answer that he saw every failure as a step toward success.

Today’s business experts say: "If you want to increase your success rate, you have to increase your failure rate. The only way to do that is to innovate."

In this issue of Real Answers, we’re going to look at the advantage of innovation, how trying something new – and taking a risk – can be the key to success.

Jack Cardwell of Petro Stopping Centers tried converting truckstops into clean, courteous, comfortable oases for both truck drivers and "four-wheelers." Today, Petro Stopping Centers are a welcome sight for any road-weary traveler.

And this year, the National Association of Truck Stop Operators (NATSO) presented Cardwell with its "Distinguished Member Award."

Diversified Trucking’s Danny Salazar believes in hiring good people, then empowering them to make their own decisions, so he can spend his time doing things only he can do— a cutting edge management technique that’s paying off for his firm.

In the "roaring twenties," Burma Shave set out to revolutionize the way men shave, and succeeded, partially through an equally innovative method of advertising.

And why would you ever put a drive tire on a trailer, or mold a groove into the shoulder of a tire, or make a tread out of two layers of rubber? It’s only by trying it that you can you discover the real answer.