Failure is not the opposite of success. Not trying is the opposite of success.

I love Axon’s headquarters. It’s a cool futuristic building. When you enter in from the outside you walk through a “Mantrap” that seems like something straight out of Men in Black. Once in the building, you walk into a huge open atrium where there are cat walks inspired by Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader’s epic lightsaber battle surrounded by rooms named after inventors and scientists (Tesla, Edison, Franklin etc…). Every single time I walk into the building I feel fortunate to be a part of something having such a positive impact in the world and always get the sense this is where the future is being created.?

When guests first enter the building they are?welcomed by a display of our most?successful market leading products. Clear display cases show our TASER energy weapons as well as our body?worn cameras that are connected to Evidence.com?a backend cloud service.?

Inspired by Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader’s epic lightsaber battle

Having given many?tours over the years to?prospective interview candidates, media, family, friends and customers I often hear an immediate sense of awe when people see the initial view of the headquarters and as they view the display case with the successful products many have asked, "How did TASER and Axon do it?"

Instead of answering them?immediately?I sidestep the question and continue the tour of the HQ up three?flights of stairs, across the famed catwalk to Axon’s mini-museum. In this room instead of just showcasing the?“winning” products-- the display cases show all of TASER and Axon’s products from the company’s founding through to today.?

The display cases in the mini-museum tell a very different story than the one in the main lobby. The closest thing that comes to mind is a chart I remember from middle school showing a Darwinian chart of species that didn’t make it.?

Darwinian chart of species that didn’t make it

In the display cases show dozens of failed products.?At that point in the tour I usually?explain to group that out of those failures came learnings and insights and iterations that led to the products that ended up being wildly successful.?

I usually end the?tour with one of the most important lessons I’ve learned from Rick Smith, Axon’s CEO and founder, "If you want to be a part of something great, don’t be afraid to fail. Failure is a key ingredient of success, not the opposite of it."