Post-It Notes: 4 Lessons for Innovators

I love the behind-the-scenes story of Post-it notes. How many of these little, yellow sorta-stickies are flagged around your house or your office? Did you know they were originally a mistake? A very fortunate mistake.

As the story goes, Spencer Silver was a skilled chemist and a very smart man. In 1968, he worked in the research labs at 3M. What he was trying to accomplish was a very strong and very quick-drying super glue. But something went awry, and he found himself with an adhesive that couldn't keep its stick. Despite the error, he had a hunch that it came with potential. He just couldn't figure out what that potential was.

He yammered to anyone at 3M who would listen that there was something—some use—for this failed formula. For years, the invention languished.

Mistakes aren't always mistakes. Look for potential.

Phil McKinney

Then, in 1974—six years later—another 3M scientist, Art Fry, had an epiphany at church choir practice. The scraps of paper he used to keep the place in his hymnal routinely fell out. This annoyed him. In a beautiful Hallelujah Chorus moment, he realized what he needed was some kind of temporary adhesive, something that would keep the bookmarks in place but be easily removed without damaging the pages.

He returned to 3M and made his bookmarks using Silver's adhesive.

Eventually, he began using the adhesive to write simple notes to other colleagues around the office. The idea caught on. After being told by 3M that the company did not have the manufacturing capacity to make these sticky notes, Fry built a machine in his basement and did it himself. The demand outgrew the company's perceived limitations, and Post-it notes went commercial in 1980 and became a disruptive innovation that had a worldwide impact.

There are important lessons for innovators in the Post-it note story:

1. Mistakes aren't always mistakes. Look for potential.

2. Pay attention to your gut. Trust your instincts. Follow your hunches.

3. Persist.

4. When you're told there isn't a way, make one.

What do these four lessons mean to you, and how have you seen them at play in your own efforts? I'd love to hear your stories. Contact me.