Are You Mixed Up?

Office supplies are kinda boring.

And that was a problem for 3M. Their office supply product development teams were stagnant. They needed to come up with some innovative things to sell. Now.

3M had their offices set up in “silos”. The tape folks sat together in the tape department and the plastic box people sat together in the plastic box wing. But the CEO had an idea. Why don’t we mix things up a little?

After the moves, the paper people were sitting with the adhesives people.

This change to 3M’s seating chart was the catalyst for one of the greatest office supply innovation stories ever.

It seems the paper people were trying to invent a new multi-functional notepad. Meanwhile, the adhesives people had accidentally formulated a disappointing new glue that didn’t stick paper together very well.

Just like chocolate hitting peanut butter for the first time, a miracle happened. The Post-It Note.

Sometimes when you need to come up with something innovative, it’s not a question of discovering something new. Sometimes it’s just a question of combining misfit ideas with failed experiments to see what happens.

What happens is sometimes amazing.

How can you mix things up a little?