Trilogy of famous failures in History: Henry Ford

Who do you listen to?

It’s so easy to become discouraged when you hear the people around you, especially those who don’t quite catch the vision of your dreams. How you deal with this kind of naysaying can mean the difference between failure and success.

Henry Ford experienced just this problem.

When you think of Ford, you probably immediately think of cars, or even the entire assembly line process. His success was not immediate, though, and in fact, he failed twice before finally getting to where he wanted to go.

Ford was just twenty-three years old when he first discovered the wonders of the internal combustion engine. Fascinated, he immersed himself in the mechanics of it with the idea of attaching it to a horseless carriage. He even came up with a prototype that seemed extremely promising.

Unable to develop the project further on his own, Ford sought financing so he could take the automobile to the next level. He secured this reasonably quickly, and so his success should have been certain, right?

The problem lay in the prototype. The car he’d designed initially had too many parts that were hard to get. He had to keep tweaking the design to make it into something able to go into production. In short, he took too long to get the desired results, and the financiers lost faith and backed out.

Henry Ford dug in, though, and tried again, this time paying more attention to the production aspects. He somehow convinced his backers to give him a second chance. They did, with the stipulation they could bring their own manager in on the project.

Again, this led to failure. Ford felt micromanaged by someone who didn’t understand the vision. When this fell apart, it should have been the end of things. He still believed in both the product and his ideas regarding production and hung in there. This time he searched for backers who likewise came to see his vision and were willing to allow him the freedom to act as he saw fit to make it a reality.

This was the real beginning of the Model A Ford, which was the foundation of Ford’s success in automobiles.

Ford was a visionary in that he never allowed anyone else to stop him from doing what he knew he could. When someone stood in his way, he found a new way around the problem to keep going. In the end, he succeeded through persistence.

So can you. The next time someone tells you ‘no,’ look for the one ready to say ‘yes.’ Align yourself with supporters, not naysayers. Then go out and get the job done.