It may  seem like everything Disney touches turns to profits. It’s not true. The Mouse House fails … a lot. It’s often after failure that the success comes.

Pinocchio, Bambi and Fantasia all flopped at the box office during their initial run but became profitable eventually through theatrical reissues because Disney had faith in them.

Walt Disney’s backyard train (built as a precursor to the development of Disneyland) was not sustainable by itself as ride for visitors to his studio but proved that a larger-sized train could be a component of a larger theme park experience.

There weren’t adequate food, bathroom and drinking fountain facilities on Disneyland’s opening day but those facilities were soon built.

The shops on Disneyland, Main Street, USA were originally leased to non-Disney businesses (including the Wonderful World of Bras) but Disney took over those shops once the original leases expired.

Disney's California Adventure was designed to be edgy, different, and unlike anything Disney had ever done before and guests stayed away but the park was fully revitalized and now holds its own with attendance ranking in the top ten for theme parks.

Animated films from to 2000s, notably Home on the Range, failed and accelerated the shuttering of much of the animation studio but led to the purchase of Pixar and the resulting revitalization of Walt Disney Animation.

Pleasure Island, the very un-Disney nightclub complex, was built in the 1980s to keep adult guests on Walt Disney World property but became a teen gang hangout unfriendly to Disney’s wholesome image.

The list could go on and on. Walt explained his failure philosophy this way, “To some people, I am kind of a Merlin who takes lots of crazy chances, but rarely makes mistakes. I’ve made some bad ones, but fortunately, the successes have come along fast enough to cover up the mistakes. When you go to bat as many times as I do, you’re bound to get a good average. That’s why I keep my projects diversified.”

And yet, for the rest of us, failure is considered the enemy. We fear losing our jobs, missing that raise or not getting promoted. But the secret, as Walt stated, is taking swings: stepping up to the bat. Nothing succeeds like failure.