“We are educating children out of their creative capacities.” ~ Ken Robinson.
My team loves Post-it notes. Come to our office, and you’ll see Post-it notes on pretty much every wall. That is how we think, brainstorm, plan, and solve problems. So it’s only appropriate to bring the story of the Post-it note here.
Dr. Spencer Silver, a scientist working at 3M back in the 1960s, invented a strange adhesive with a curious property: it was somewhat sticky, but it did not stick!
His employer, 3M, did not see the value in a glue that does not stick – quite obviously – and did not support the project.
Until one day, when Dr. Silver noticed that his colleague, Art Fry, was using his adhesive to keep his bookmarks from falling out of his book; and “Eureka!” a purpose was found for it. The adhesive was applied to little square pieces of paper and became the legendary Post-it notes, which is now a billion-dollar product and one of 3M’s most valuable assets.
Here’s what I love about this story: it shows us the true nature of innovation; that innovation…
1. Rarely comes out of nowhere: Dr. Silver was a creative invented the adhesive, but not its ground-breaking application. For the application, he relied on another creative person, his colleague.
Similarly, nearly all of the greatest innovations were built on other, preexisting innovations. The invention of the light bulb by Edison relied on the discovery of electricity by Jefferson, 150 years prior. The invention of the internet relied on the invention of computers and computer networks.
2. Is rarely achieved by one person: in all likelihood, neither Dr. Silver nor Art could have come up with the concept of Post-it notes on their own. It had to be the two of them: without the adhesive, Art would not have invented the Post-it; and without the Post-it, Dr. Silver’s new adhesive would have been scrapped. So, the question is, who invented the Post-it note? The answer is: both of them.
Similarly, Steve Jobs did not invent the iPhone. Or more accurately, he and his team did not invent any of the components that went into creating the first iPhone. Pretty much every feature of the iPhone was already in existence in other products. All they did, was to put everything together in a creative and innovative way to create a product that was useful and appealing to consumers.
3. Happens through persistence: if Dr. Silver had given up on his discovery just because his employers saw no benefit in it, the Post-it would not have come into existence. Instead, he refused to give up and continued to search for practical uses for it.
Edison famously had a number of failures and frustrations before finally inventing the light bulb.
Innovation is never easy or instant. It takes time, effort and persistence. And those who are willing to put in what it takes, are often rewarded.
The world belongs to the innovators, and to be an innovator, you need to be creative.
Creativity is the source, innovation is the outcome.
The world belongs to the creatives, and this will continue into the future.
The great thing is, we are all born creatives; but the trouble is, we spend 12 years at school learning how to destroy our creativity. That is what Ken Robinson means in the saying I quoted above.
How do we get it back? Simple: become a child again. Children are remarkable. They are constantly curious about the world, always asking questions, always learning, always willing to try new things, and never afraid of failure of of judgment. Never too proud to look silly.
Give a child a set of painting kits and some paper, and instantly her imagination will run wild. She will easily spend hours painting whatever comes to her mind. She doesn’t paint to impress anyone – she just enjoys the process.
We were kids too, at one time. But somewhere along the way, we lost our creativity. It’s time to go back to our childhoods and get it back.