Accidental Successes #1 : To Stick or Not To Stick
At times your life does not go planned. At all. Happens.
But a lot of achievements have actually stemmed out of such places by pure play of probabilities or by an observant and opportunistic mind looking at it from a different angle.
Sometimes you get the goal achieved.
Sometimes, you get a whole lot better...
There have been many such instances when science has advanced, empires have been forged and fortunes have been made due to such glorious misadventures.
One such accident led to...
Silver attempted to create a super strong adhesive, a superglue. But he ended up creating a low-tack adhesive. It was a pressure sensitive adhesive that could only hold papers together and weak enough to allow the papers be taken apart easily. But it was reusable. He patented it. He gave seminars to promote it within 3M and called it a "solution without a problem" and searched for a use for it for five years. That is, until a lightbulb glowed on a colleague's head...
So, keep moving fellas!
SSV
But a lot of achievements have actually stemmed out of such places by pure play of probabilities or by an observant and opportunistic mind looking at it from a different angle.
Sometimes you get the goal achieved.
Sometimes, you get a whole lot better...
There have been many such instances when science has advanced, empires have been forged and fortunes have been made due to such glorious misadventures.
One such accident led to...
POST-IT NOTES
Spencer Silver obtained a PhD in organic chemistry and joined a company-one which currently holds over 118,000 patents- 3M. As a Senior Chemist.Silver attempted to create a super strong adhesive, a superglue. But he ended up creating a low-tack adhesive. It was a pressure sensitive adhesive that could only hold papers together and weak enough to allow the papers be taken apart easily. But it was reusable. He patented it. He gave seminars to promote it within 3M and called it a "solution without a problem" and searched for a use for it for five years. That is, until a lightbulb glowed on a colleague's head...
ENTER, ART FRY...
Arthur Fry worked in Product Development of 3M and had attended Silver's seminar. Fry soon figured out a use for Silver's solution : Fry used to sing in Church choir at nights and he used slips of papers as makeshift bookmarks in his notes, which, obviously, moved off or fell off with usage. He then requested a sample from Silver and started experimenting with it and ended up creating sheets with only one edge coated so that it has a free, flap-sort-off end and started using it. He later also started using it to write notes for his boss on them - this usage led to his expansion of the idea to develop Post-it Notes.CONCLUSION?
Similarly, when you attempt to create superglue, you may hit a low-tack. If you are on your own able to look at it differently, you sure are to make a hit as you contrive Post-it Notes.So, keep moving fellas!
SSV
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