Success is Just Running Out of Mistakes is about a lifelong quest to improve the therapy of kidney failure, especially with hemodialysis technology. Dr. Ash began to write this because of a lack of progress in dialysis therapy. He is tired of physicians and politicians saying that there is a "lack of innovation" among nephrologists. The problem isn't a lack of innovation, but rather a failure to commercialize radically better new technology. In some ways the book is also a collection of 12 case studies of new technology and ideas and how a small technology-driven firm can succeed or fail in efforts to bring their new product to become a widespread market success. Few textbooks describe not only the successes of R&D companies in bringing products to the market but also their failures. What is surprising about the failures described in this book is that they occurred at many different steps of bringing a new product to market.. The answer to a physician who says "I have a new idea and think it could help medical therapy. What should I do next?" is very long and complicated.
The one trait Success is Just Running Out of Mistakes demonstrates is the importance of persistence. Not just in any one project, but in a career trying to make just one small part of medical therapy better for patients with kidney failure. Too many young physicians don't realize the tough road ahead to make medical therapy better and quit after the failure of their first good idea. As Winston Churchill said, "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."