Have you heard of Chicken and Egg dilemma?
Nobody is sure if chicken came first or egg. I am sure not many people would doubt whether an idea came first or a product. This article is about the accidental discovery of a product which was sitting for years until an idea for its use emerged. This resulted in creation of a new product which is now used at home, work, school, parties, everywhere.
In 1968, Spencer Silver was researching on creating super strong glue but he ended up with super weak glue. It was a failed product. Guess what! He was not told: 'Spencer, You are fired!' He kept on looking for some use for his glue without any luck.
Six Years passed by. In 1974, researcher Art Fry got an idea. Why not apply weak glue on a piece of paper and use it as a marker on a book?
Success! The paper stuck to the book but was easy to remove and did not damage the book. As many of you must have guessed, Art Fry and Spencer Silver from 3M had created post-it -- fun sticky notes with ever creative uses.
In 1977, 3M distributed post-it across the organization and the employees became instant fans. The product was finally launched across US in 1980 - 12 years after the weak glue was discovered. The rest, as they say, is history.
Post-it notes have become phenomena. Once the product became successful, American Merchandizing machine came into play. Today, there are more than 600 products sold in over 100 countries. You get these in various colors, shapes and sizes. There are easel pads, flags, dispensers, there are regular, pop-up and super-sticky notes, and the list is endless. There are also post-it flip-charts, which are used in training classes and they do not need to be flipped. The instructor writes on a page, tears it and sticks on the wall for later reference.
The use of post-it depends on the creativity of an individual. Whether is a reminder note on bathroom mirror, a honey to-do list, 'Call -me' note on a co-worker's monitor, quick jot-down, mark a page or even a paragraph on a book, we can use a post-it. We can highlight even on Library books -- without any fear of damage. We can use it to cheer someone up: Great Work! You Rock! Post-it notes are very effective in brainstorming sessions as well.
Post-it had a competition for consumers to demonstrate the use - One Million Ideas and Counting campaign. The results of the contest are creative and amusing - letter and color recognition for tiny tots, Creative wall arts including a face of Elves Presley, and the most fun was post-its in motion -- post-it wheels and post-it waterfalls.
One of the characteristics of post-it is that they are temporary in nature. You throw your to-do list at the end of the day, note the final 10 ideas after a brainstorm on a spreadsheet, and so on. Now, there are digital post-its from 3M and also from other companies. Microsoft Outlook has a note feature.
What's the moral of the post-it story? Stick to your idea. Never give up on your great ideas, even if they seem like failures at first. And remember that sometimes you'll need a creative way to see the idea and to allow others to see what you see. Have patience and faith just as Spencer Silver did. And keep an open mind like Art Fry.
Mary Kay Ash had said: "For every failure, there's an alternative course of action. You just have to find it. When you come to a roadblock, take a detour".
About this Author
Bina Mehta is President of Fairoaks Toastmasters Club. She has been a toastmaster since January 2008 and has completed Competent Communicator manual. She would like to share her experience as a Toastmaster via a series of articles.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bina_Mehta
