SILVER LINING

In today's fiercely competitive world, innovation, although crucial for personal and organic growth, is found to be difficult to sustain. Difficulties arise because most persons and organizations tend to view deviations from institutionalized organizational practices as mistakes that can only detract from overall organizational performance. Yet, to sustain innovation, some deviation is definitely required.

Spence Silver, a scientist at 3M, was busy doing his work when he stumbled upon a strange substance – a glue that did not stick. Most would have considered this to be a mistake, but not Silver. Looking at the substance under the microscope, Silver thought that the material was beautiful, and, so, decided to pursue its commercial application. Upon being asked if he had made a mistake, Silver responded that he had stumbled upon a "solution looking for a problem".

Indeed, it is to 3M's credit that it allowed Silver to carry this strange glue forward. The celebrated Post-it Note pads were invented on the idea of a glue that does not stick, and they turned out to be the 3M Corporation's most successful product. This vignette illustrates that quite often we stumble on creative solutions much before we are confronted by yet to come problems.

Creativity is all about visioning questions before they get asked and applying the solution that already lies besides us. We must see the potential in what may seem to be a mistake. We must develop our tolerance for ambiguity, by seeing the unseen dimensions to a situation that seems a dead-end, but is in reality just a cul-de-sac. We need to notice the "silver" lining that borders the dark cloud!

Mistakes are quite often problem-searching solutions
Look beyond the obvious to "develop new dimensions "