Happy Birthday, Thomas Edison!

 “Hell, there are no rules here – we’re trying to accomplish something.”

– Thomas A. Edison

On the 167th anniversary of Thomas Edison’s birth, we have a lot to thank this remarkable innovator for. He was before his time, a man of his own will and determination. Someone who was labeled a genius later in life, but as a child was seen as confused, unfocused, and maybe just a little bit crazy.

I wonder if we would look at Edison the same way if he hadn’t made the breakthroughs that he did. Maybe if he had given up after a he felt he had failed too many times. If it took 100, or a thousand or ten thousand times to get the light bulb right, imagine if he had stopped at 99, eight hundred, or nine thousand. But he did succeed, through sheer determination and the ability to step outside the lines and do things the way he was inspired to do them.

Edison was not one to play by the rules, or even create his own set. If you think about it it makes perfect sense to apply the same kind of mentality to how we innovate today, and yet many companies are all about following the “rules”. The question is, who created these rules? And are they still relevant? Would we innovate more in less time if we threw the rules out the window? Edison seemed to think so.

This is why it’s so important for us as human beings to be given the space and tools to think freely, and to fail. Not fail just once, but many times. If Edison were here today I’m sure he would encourage us all to throw our ideas out there, try new things and find the best way. If the best way doesn’t work out, start at the beginning and do it all over again.

This is why we built Stormboard.

So throw your ideas out there; brainstorm, collaborate and innovate!

Happy Birthday, Thomas Edison!

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