Did you know there are everyday products you are highly familiar with, that came about by mistake? These are products that came about in trying to invent something completely different.
The Slinky
While working on a tension spring, Richard James accidentally let one slip off the table. When it hit the ground, it kept ongoing. This gave him the idea to make it into a product. The product was developed in the 1940s but is still available today. James’ wife sold the product in 1998.
Post-It Notes
3M was looking for a strong adhesive and set the research and development department to come up with it. They instead made a very weak adhesive, and one of the developers saw that it would stick to a surface but wouldn’t stay stuck. This gave them the idea to attach it to paper for notes. Hence, the Post-It note was born.
Velcro
In the 1940s, a man and his dog were in the woods hunting. Burrs stuck to his pants and the fur of his dog. This motivated him to studied how these burrs worked under a microscope. He then developed it into a product we all know as Velcro. It is still a viable product to this day.
Silly Putty
The United States government needed rubber during World War II, and it was in short supply. General Electric engineers tried to come up with a rubber substitute and instead came up with goo, which they felt they did not need. An inspiring business person paid them for the rights to the invention and named it Silly Putty. Plastic egg packaging was used since the release of the product was near Easter time.
Viagra
This product was meant to help people with heart conditions. Instead, they observed in clinical studies that men who took the pill became aroused. As you can well imagine, this product didn’t take much to market and became a success practically overnight.
Play-Doh
Play-Doh got its start as a cleaning product for wallpaper. When it didn’t do as well for that purpose, the inventors knew a teacher who complained about the clay her students were using in class. It was not pliable. The inventors suggested she try the Play-Doh, and the kids went crazy for it. An entire industry has been built around this product since then.
If you have been beating yourself up over making mistakes, it’s time to cut yourself a break. Who knows, you may even discover the next multimillion-dollar product in the process.
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