It's Time to Beat Hopelessness into the Ground, the Edison Way

He invented the phonograph despite being deaf, was reported to be working on a telephone that could communicate with the dead, and said that sleep was a waste of time.

Thomas Edison, world renowned for creating the commercial light bulb - was seen as a ruthless, money-hungry businessman. But the truth, as viewed today - 86 years after his death - is that Edison was a misunderstood believer in bringing great ideas to the masses.

Motivated as much by helping people, as he was by money, Edison's brand of determination has lessons for us today, in a world where giving up is all too easy. 

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

Did Thomas Edison really try 10,000 times to improve the light bulb all on his own? Today, historians say the famous claim by Edison is untrue. Edison was not alone, employing a team of 14 engineers and designers who tried many different methods to make the light bulb last a long time. Depending upon the source, the number of attempts may have been as little as 1,000. Despite the separation of truth from myth - there was no denying Edison's relentless pursuit of his goals. He did not view any activity as failure, but rather, "attempts" to succeed. Whatever we do in life, we need to position our lows as building blocks, not dead ends.    

"Hell, there are no rules here - we're trying to accomplish something."

Edison had no patience for what he considered pointless corporate rules. He encouraged his team to try every idea and pursue every lead. Today, many rules stifle creativity and free thought. Managers need to toss away their fears and allow people to experiment and push the envelope as far as possible. That, after all, is good business sense.

“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”

Nothing can substitute hard work. Edison was smart to be sure, but his accomplishments came mainly from his determination. Part of Edison’s remarkable resilience was his ability to accept whatever happened, followed by a commitment to start over until things met his satisfaction. When his laboratory caught fire, destroying many important findings and research, he simply said, “We start rebuilding tomorrow.” Today – we too can embrace the attitude of Edison, and nothing will stop us.

Thomas Edison was a madman when it came to inventing - developing the phonograph, motion picture camera, the first long-lasting light bulb - and even a battery for an electric car. In all, he held 1,093 patents, more than anyone else in his day and anyone in the world up until 2003.

But his biggest accomplishment was his ability to mass produce his inventions using a team of designers inside his Menlo Park research lab in New Jersey. The business side of Edison was as powerful as the creative side, once admitting “I measure everything I do by the size of a silver dollar.”

Edison was a big self-promoter too, guilty of taking all the credit, even though his assistants did most of the work. It is said, however, that Edison’s team didn’t mind so much, knowing that the name “Edison” was a powerful brand from which they could benefit.

His entrepreneurial spirit began at an early age, selling candy and newspapers on trains.

Slow in school, he was taught by his mother who noticed his incredible curiosity, giving him a book on chemistry. That inspired the young Edison to build a laboratory in the family's cellar. (Edison would later credit his mother for his success in life).

He was said to be poor at mathematics, yet could see things others could not.

Edison once remarked that sleep was a waste of time, claiming he could get by with just 3 or 4 hours a night without ever dreaming. But he had a secret weapon: power napping.

The year is 1921 and Thomas Edison is seen taking a power nap under a tree. Despite boasting that he could get by on little sleep, Edison used many naps during the day to recharge his creative mind. It is said he was capable of falling asleep in under a minute, any time - any place. If he could not solve a problem, he napped – then awoke to try an entirely different approach.

Image credit: Bettman/Corbis via TIME

Thomas Edison was hard of hearing or close to deaf for most of his life. He had claimed his ears were injured as a child when a train conductor lifted him up by the ears after a chemical experiment on the train caught fire. But historians say, more likely, Edison became deaf from a bout of scarlet fever or untreated ear infections.

He never wore a hearing aid, saying that his hearing disability allowed him to concentrate. Later in life, he would comment "Deafness probably drove me to reading."

Edison is best known for inventing the modern-day light bulb. Before then, other inventors had created bulbs that would burn out quickly.

The carbon filament bulb he successfully tested in 1879 lasted 13 and a half hours, becoming the first commercial incandescent light. It would be just several months later that Edison and his team extended the bulb's life to 1,200 hours using bamboo as the filament. A delighted Edison was ready to take on the world, forming the "Edison Electric Light Company" and declaring that he was about to "make electricity so cheap, only the rich will burn candles."

But not everything Edison tried was successful. Among his failures was an attempt to improve upon X-Ray technology. The problem was that Edison had no idea what he was doing. His assistant, Clarence Dally, received severe burns, lost both arms and died from radiation poisoning. Edison himself received permanent damage to his left eye and stomach – and the tragic loss of his assistant during the X-Ray experiments would emotionally scare Edison for the remainder of his days.

In this rare but incredibly well preserved photo taken in 1877 or 1878, a young Edison is seen with his favorite invention - the phonograph (which he worked on for an incredible 52 years). Edison discovered that vibrations made from speaking could be recorded onto a metal cylinder wrapped in tin foil. He gave plans for the phonograph to one of his assistants who reportedly built it in under 30 hours. The machine sold for $20 in 1899 but 30 years later, Edison would give up on his beloved phonograph as new technology took hold. 

It was in 1920 that Thomas Edison was quoted as saying he was working on a phone system that could communicate with the dead. But 6 years later, he admitted to the New York Times, he simply ran out of things to tell the reporter, so, in his words, he: "thought up this story about talking with spirits."

By his 30s, Edison was a multi-millionaire. Yet, he spent surprisingly little money on himself, preferring to finance his inventions and businesses. But he did purchase a 23 room mansion as a wedding gift for his second wife Mina. He was 39, she only 19. By all accounts, it was a loving partnership of mutual respect, and today, the two rest side-by-side in a garden behind the mansion.

While wealthy, Edison was not happy with America's banking system, considering it to be corrupt. In particular, he considered the charging of interest on loans to be evil. Edison proposed that banks lend money to farmers interest-free based on the value of their crops, an idea that never caught on.

At age 59, Edison decided to purchase the home where he was born but was horrified to discover years later that it was still being lit by candles.

This hard working inventor continued to work until the day he died. That day came in 1931, when, at age 84, Edison succumbed to complications from diabetes. It's believed his final words to his wife were: "It is very beautiful over there," an apparent reference to the afterlife.

Thomas Edison left a legacy of innovation and business smarts, showing us all what is possible if we just never give up.

Among Thomas Edison’s ventures was a movie company that produced the first Frankenstein film in 1910. Edison, because he was deaf, enjoyed silent movies. But when sound made its way onto the screen, he was unable to follow the dialogue and lost interest. Edison's electric company became what is today General Electric.

Copyright ? 2021 Cory Galbraith | All rights reserved.

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