Green Heinz ketchup? Colgate lasagna? Clear Pepsi? You don’t need to be an expert to know these products weren’t successful. So why are they in a museum in the Swedish town of Helsingborg?
The wacky parade of rejects is the brainchild of curator and psychologist Samuel West. According to West, 80 to 90 percent of new products fail, never to be heard of again. But, West says, “If there’s anything we can do from these failures, it’s learn from them.”
That’s very true in science and experimentation. Failures are prerequisites for successes. Research scientists say they learn much from disproving hypotheses—and that new knowledge sets up the next experiment. Eventually, after disproving a body of ideas, they arrive at a discovery of fact.
The same is often true of invention and marketing. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. But learn from the mistakes—and that may take some research.
Why did the men’s eau-du-toilette (a light cologne) from the maker of Harley-Davidson motorcycles fail? It turns out that the manly men who own the prestigious, rumbling cycles felt the fragrance didn’t fit the image they were going for. (Imagine that…)
What about Google Glass—the augmented reality headset with built-in camera? How did anything from internet giant Google qualify as a failure?
“Google released it too early,” says West. “It was full of bugs.” That’s another solid lesson: Don’t rush to market with an idea that isn’t fully formed.
Experts warn that innovation is tough and failure is part of the process.
“You’re working on the edge of tomorrow,” says Nicolai de Gier. The professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts claims “part of trying is failing, so it’s just a very natural thing and very important thing.”
West says many companies featured in his museum aren’t thrilled about being there. They don’t want to admit their past failures. But others have booked large group visits—hoping to learn from their own and other mistakes in recent history.
“It’s liberating for us. When we try out a new skill or learn something, it’s OK to fail,” he says.
Christians know that feeling of liberation well. Being free to fail is part of being completely covered by Jesus’ perfection for all our sins and shortcomings. And that empowers believers for action—whether that’s trying to invent something new or simply walking through life loving others as we have been loved. See Ephesians 5 for what that kind of action looks like.
