.floatimg-left-hort { float:left; } .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 12px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} Business people today are particularly failure-averse. I suppose that’s just human nature. It keeps us safe. And in these economic times, safe feels good. But safe rarely evolves into greatness. Greatness is a byproduct of the bumps and bruises that come from taking a risk and falling on your face a few times.

The world knows Walt Disney and his famous mouse. But few people are familiar with Walt’s earlier effort: Laugh-O-Gram films in Kansas City.

At 20, he already had been fired twice (once for not being a particularly good artist), and his first business venture (a commercial art studio) had ended quickly in bankruptcy. Disney’s Laugh-O-Gram Studio didn’t fare much better. It declared bankruptcy in 1923, barely one year after its founding. A few weeks later, Walt moved to California to live with his brother Roy.

The studio in Kansas City was the site of one of Walt’s most painful failures, but it was also the location of a very fortuitous meeting. One late night, Walt encountered a mouse eating some crumbs. He put that mouse in a cage on his desk and taught him tricks. He would draw circles on his drawing board, and the mouse would run inside them. Walt grew very fond of that mouse. Before leaving for California, Disney set him free.

Years later, that mouse would repay Disney with some much-needed inspiration.

What big idea have you shelved out of fear? An event that feels too big for Des Moines? A crazy new idea for a company?

Are you playing it too safe?

If Walt had succeeded in Kansas City, would there ever have been a Disneyland?

Drew McLellan is Top Dog at McLellan Marketing Group and blogs at www.drewsmarketingminute.com. He can be reached at Drew@MclellanMarketing.com. © 2010 Drew McLellan