The Value of Negative Results
We all avoid failure(失败),and most of us fear it.However,without failure,progress would be impossible.What does success usually come after?Failure.It seems that one cannot exist(存在)without the other.
Accepting failure is not easy for many,though we are often unwilling accept failure because our professional fame depends on success.(1) In the past ten years,for example,some scientific magazines have published reports of failed tests.It is believed that scientists can learn more "negative(负面的)"results and that this can finally lead to positive results.
(2) The ABN AMRO bank started an Institute (机构)of Brilliant Failures to learn more about what works and what doesn't in banking.Eli Lilly and Company had failure parties to study the drugs(药物)that don't work.
In fact,one of the business world's most famous failures became one of its biggest successes,in part because the product's makers learned from their mistakes.(3) The product,though unique(独特的)at the time,was expensive and heavy;besides,some of its most important features(特点)didn't work properly.As a result,Apple's CEO,Steve Jobs,believed in the product and he began to find out ways of improving it.In time,this led to the production of the iPhone and the iPad,two of the company's most successful products.
(4) Not only should we try to learn from it if we want to succeed,we must also be persistent(执着的).Though Apple stopped selling the Newton in 1998,the first iPhone wasn't available until 2007.It took a lot of research and hard work to go from the Apple Newton to iPhone but in the end,the effort became successful.
All in all,there is a lot we can learn by studying mistakes.Perhaps the most important lesson is that failure and success are two sides of the same coin. (5)
A.One truly cannot exist without the other.
B.We are brave enough to face difficulties.
C.In the early 1990s,Apple created a phone called the Apple Newton.
D.The business world already understands the value of negative results.
E.The Apple Newton has won popularity with people all over the world.
F.However,things are slowly changing,especially in business and science.
G.The story of the Apple Newton can teach us an important lesson about failure.