Yet, this indispensible office tool almost never made it to market. I recently visited Post-it maker 3M at the company's St.Paul, Minn., headquarters and learned the history behind this product. It's a story we could all learn from.
In 1968, a 3M scientist named Dr. Spencer Silver developed a low-tack, pressure-sensitive, reusable adhesive. Silver thought his creation had merit. No one else at 3M seemed to think so. Silver spent the next five years trying to promote the adhesive without much success. That was until in 1974 a 3M colleague named Art Fry happened to hear about Silver's creation and used it to anchor pages that kept falling out of his church hymnal. Fry realized Silver was onto something.
This story could have ended here if it wasn't for a bright idea that came from some other folks who believed the adhesive could be useful. They decided to take the matter straight to 3M executives in a novel manner. Using the yellow lab paper 3M researchers traditionally used, they created the Post-it note, a note card with a special adhesive that could be reapplied to surfaces over and over. They sent boxes of their creation to 3M executives and their administrative assistants. The product proved to be a hit. When these same executives and assistants ran out of the helpful little sticky notes and asked for more, they discovered their own researchers were responsible.
3M began selling Post-it notes in 1977 but immediately hit a snag. Initial sales were flat since consumers too needed to be convinced that the product was useful. One more bright idea saved the Post-it note.
Since consumers weren't going to buy the product until after they were sold on its utility, 3M simply gave Post-it notes away, specifically to residents of Boise, Idaho. Ninety percent of the people who used them said they'd buy them. Word spread. Three years later the Post-it note was available nationwide.
The lesson here? Actually, there are several. First, good ideas come from everywhere. Often, they aren't recognized for their value early on. Second, one good idea needs to be followed by another and another and so on. Third, success involves teamwork. Even the "smallest" of ideas needs input from all over to get moving. Fourth, persistence counts. Even after years of frustration and struggling, the people backing the Post-it note still pushed forward.
Why does all this matter to you?
These same lessons apply to how you run your operation, along with the way your vendors or anyone else you do business with runs theirs. Small ideas yield big dividends. Sometimes, the most important, lucrative solutions pop up before anyone identifies a problem or need.
That's something to keep in mind the next time you look at a yellow sticky note you've posted to make sure you keep something else in mind to build your business.
Tim Sramcik
