Have you ever thought about what you have learned through your mistakes and failures? Too often I believe we are trying to play a game of cover up to even admit that we fail. But everyone fails at something throughout their lives. What is the value of failure?

Take a close look at every successful business mogul and you will find that they have misfired at one time or another. It was 119 years ago today that Henry Ford drove his first automobile down the streets of Detroit. The Quadricycle, as he called it, was little more than a frame resting on four bicycle tires and a 4 horse-powered, two cylinder gasoline engine. It would do a top speed of 20 miles per hour. It did not have brakes or a reverse gear, and barely any steering. It broke down during that initial drive and was repaired on the spot for the drive back home. Ford thought he had the invention that would turn transportation on its ear. He did, but not with the Quadricycle. Ford eventually built and sold a total of three Quadricycles – not exactly what you had in mind if you were hoping to become a billionaire. Part of the reason that the Quadricycle did not take the world by storm is it was never seen as a necessary mode of transportation. It was looked at as a toy for the rich and famous (Ford sold the original Quadricycle for $200.) However, the lessons learned from building something new that was seen as a playmobile helped Henry Ford think through ways to make an automobile that would become the main mode of transportation. In order to do this, he had to learn to make them in mass quantities and affordably.

Ford did not invent the automobile. He invented the auto assembly line. He changed the way cars were built starting with the Model T in 1908. That was 12 years after the Quadricycle. In between, there were several Ford built cars that simply were viewed much like his original automobile – too costly for the common man. Ford changed all of that with the assembly line and interchangeable parts. He standardized the parts for quick and repeated construction. When he did this, he found that he could reduce his costs significantly. He announced that the Model T would be a car for the multitudes. It was built large enough to hold an average family. Best of all, anyone holding a decent job could afford one. Ford sold 15 million Model Ts from 1908-1927.

Too often we look at the results of a successful business venture and oversimplify the process it took to get there. We overlook the failures along the way that led to the success. We live in a fantasy land where we tell everyone they are a winner, even when they are not. What does that say about us? For one, it says we are being very dishonest in not making a distinction between success and failure. It also means we never really learn from our mistakes. We are destined to keep doing the wrong thing and calling it the right thing even though it is not producing results. There is a word for that kind of behavior – insanity!

Maybe it is time to get past our foolish little game of denial and manufactured success and get back to what very successful people do: learn from their mistakes. Take a look at your miscues and build upon them. If you never fail, you never learn. If you never learn, you are destined to wallow in the misery of your own making. Take it from Henry Ford, there is value in failure. It leads you to the right answer.

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Henry Ford test-drives his "Quadricycle", History.com, 2009 A+E Networks