Maybe you didn’t know, but the creation of chocolate chip cookies was an accident, thanks to Ruth Graves. She thought the broken chocolate pieces she added to the cookie dough would melt and make chocolate cookies (as opposed to chocolate chip cookies). Now we all profit from this mistake.
Repositioning how we understand setbacks, along the way to success, is a powerful method to mining a more precious yield.
It will become clear throughout this article that the perception of a mistake being made would be the actual mistake. This is true in the given scenarios and so too we can adopt this for our own tasks & ventures.
Post It Note
Dr. Spencer Silver, a chemist at 3M, happened upon a low-tack adhesive (an easily removable weak adhesive). Silver was intending to create a super-strong adhesive that did not meet the initial goal and “failed”.
Art Fry, another 3M scientist, didn’t dismiss the failure, he saw potential. He repurposed the weak adhesive to create sticky notes, a seemingly trivial yet revolutionary product. The “failure” of creating a potent adhesive became the essence of the Post-it note’s success, giving rise to new ways of organizing and communicating information.
Penicillin
Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin as a complete accident.
In 1928, Alexander Fleming returned to his laboratory after a vacation to find one of his Petri dishes (filled with Staphylococcus bacteria) had mold growing in it. Surrounding the area where the mold was there was no bacteria present. Fleming understood that the mold was killing the surrounding bacteria. Rather than seeing that dish as failing to test what he was previously testing, he observed a completely new direction to iterate upon and released the first antibiotic in 1929.
The Microwave
Percy Spencer, an engineer at Raytheon, was working around microwave radiation in 1945, when he noticed that a candy bar in his pocket had melted due to the microwaves emitted by the equipment.
Instead of seeing this as unwanted, he became curious and tried heating up other foods like popcorn kernels and eggs. Realizing that this much faster method is a viable way to cook, he created a metal box to contain the emitted microwaves and filed for a patent.
Play-Doh
Play-Doh wasn’t intended for children’s play but as a wallpaper cleaner (marketed at “Kutol”). Wallpaper cleaning demand fizzled, but the owners stumbled upon an unexpected use. Now, these iconic colorful containers are quite a recognizable success story. Here, the product was even intentionally created, but a better market was yet to be discovered.
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There are numerous other well known products that fit this development framework: Velcro (hook-and-loop fastener), Charles Goodyear’s vulcanized rubber tires, and even the pacemaker.
Accidental Understanding of the Universe
Even discoveries surrounding the makeup of our universe happened by accident. In 1964, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson stumbled upon faint light that remained from shortly after the Big Bang. Not understanding what was coming through their radio telescope, they genuinely thought this was the work of pigeons on the roof of the building and deemed the reading incorrect! Little did they know, they had just received some of the earliest created light in the universe. They also couldn’t have known that this mistake would bring forth clearer understandings of the early universe, its continuing expansion, as well as methodology shifts for future astrophysicists as they carry out modern day discoveries.
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Embracing unexpected results are key. Not all events are going to culminate with a great invention, but we can feel confident that these “failures” are further developing our great products and services, despite what the present situation or others seem to suggest.
It is normal to feel resistance to the idea that a mistake could actually be a great success, but a shift in perspective can be so powerful that it changes everything.
When it is difficult to see a greater perspective in your own situation, remember back to these worthwhile discoveries and take it as a reminder that you’re on the way to your next great contribution.
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