John Lasseter is the Chief Creative Officer at Disney’s Pixar. But John wasn’t always one of Disney’s most prized possessions. Lasseter was actually fired from his original internship at Disney for taking “too many uncalculated risks” in regard to animation. In between this firing and his eventual start-up of Pixar, Lasseter went to work for Star Wars director George Lucas. While there, he joined a creative team made up of members with mainly scientific backgrounds. It was on this team that Lasseter’s propensity for risk taking was transformed into a core value. It was here that he finally gained permission to fail.

Scientists deal mainly in the realm of experimentation. In science, failure is always part of the process. In fact, it’s often a bigger part of the process than success. A scientist might run an experiment one hundred times. Out of those one hundred, ninety-nine of those experiments will probably fail, but without the first ninety-nine failures, he would never reach the one success.

Every innovator wants to make the next big thing. We all want to create the next big app, the next best seller or next hit product. Successes like these rarely, if ever, come on the first try though. In the process of innovation and making art that counts, we must take on a spirit of experimentation. Giving yourself permission to try and to fail is the fastest way to gain lasting success.

The best part about permission to fail: it’s totally contagious. In doing this for ourselves, we also give the same permission to those around us. If a member of your team knows that she will be supported, encouraged, and helped up if she falls, she’s much more likely to take a big risk. And if she takes a big risk, you all might benefit from the even bigger reward.

Without risk though, there is no reward. Without failure, we rarely experience success. So in whatever you do, do yourself a favor and give yourself permission to fail.