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"Genius? Nothing! Sticking to it is the genius! ... I've failed my way to success."
--Thomas Edison
Wonder why I don't make such mistakes?
Sit down. Pour yourself a Coke, have a chocolate chip cookie--whatever you like. Then grab a yellow sticky note and write this down:
MISTAKES ARE GOOD
You may have heard this before, but I bet you still hate the idea of screwing up and embarrassing yourself in front of everybody. This is understandable. We aren't very nice to people who make mistakes. Unless you somehow manage not to do anything ever again, you will mess up, somehow, somewhere. I promise. If you have the right frame of mind, though, that mistake could turn out to be one of the most valuable, most important, most memorable, or most delicious accidents in history. It's happened before--too many times for me to describe without giving you severe eyestrain. There's a great little book on the topic called Mistakes that Worked by Charlotte Foltz Jones. It's written for kids, but it's the sort of thing that's a fun read even for adults. Some mistakes are familiar. We already know, for instance, that Christopher Columbus meant to sail to Asia, not America. We may never have pondered other mistakes, however. Where would Jack be if his mother hadn't tossed his magic beans out the window? Not up the beanstalk getting golden eggs from the giant's goose, that's for sure. And where would Cinderella be had she not dropped her glass slipper? Cleaning the fireplace, that's where. (By the way, did you know that the original Cinderella story had her wearing a fur shoe? A French writer made a mistake when he wrote the story down in 1697, confusing two homonyms--vair, an old French word for fur, and verre, which is French for glass. But it was a good mistake, making for much more romantic story, and much better fashion.)
And now for the rest...Coca-Cola, chocolate chip cookies, and yellow sticky notes... Both Coca-Cola and chocolate chip cookies were mistakes--or at least unexpected delights. And yellow sticky notes were the result of a failure. Here's what happened:
Innkeeper Ruth Wakefield was baking Butter Drop Do cookies one day in the 1930s using a recipe that dated back to colonial times. She cut up a Nestlé chocolate bar and put the chunks in the batter, expecting them to melt. Wakefield thought she'd be pulling chocolate-flavored cookies out of the oven. Instead, what she got were butter cookies studded with gooey chocolate chips. Her mistake became one of the most favorite cookies of all time.
Coca-Cola was the result of another delicious accident. In 1886 a pharmacist named John Pemberton cooked up a medicinal syrup in a large brass kettle slung over an open fire, stirring it with an oar. When he was done, he figured he had created a fine tonic for people who were tired, nervous, or plagued with sore teeth. Coke didn't make it as medicine, and wasn't even an instant success as a beverage. In the first year, Pemberton spent $73.96 promoting his new product but managed to sell only $50 worth. Today people guzzle 1 billion drinks a day from the Coca-Cola company (they make more than Coke), which is quite encouraging for us everyday screw-ups.
Yellow sticky notes, officially known as Post-it Notes, got their start in 1968 when a 3M researcher tried to improve adhesive tape. What he got was a semi sticky adhesive--not exactly what you want out of tape. Even so, he knew he had something cool--he just didn't know what to do with it. Four years later, another 3M scientist was getting frustrated. This scientist was a member of his church choir, and he kept dropping the bookmarks stuck in his hymnal. What he needed was something that would stick without being too sticky--something just like that weak glue his colleague had accidentally created. In 1980 the Post-it Note became an official product and a huge hit.
This brings to mind a powerful quote by scientist Louis Pasteur, "Where observation is concerned, chance favors only the prepared mind," and another, by writer James Joyce, "Mistakes are the portals for discovery." What they mean is that you should look carefully--and study your errors. You may find things you were never looking for, things that could change the world, or at the very least, taste really good.
--Thomas Edison
Wonder why I don't make such mistakes?
Sit down. Pour yourself a Coke, have a chocolate chip cookie--whatever you like. Then grab a yellow sticky note and write this down:
MISTAKES ARE GOOD
You may have heard this before, but I bet you still hate the idea of screwing up and embarrassing yourself in front of everybody. This is understandable. We aren't very nice to people who make mistakes. Unless you somehow manage not to do anything ever again, you will mess up, somehow, somewhere. I promise. If you have the right frame of mind, though, that mistake could turn out to be one of the most valuable, most important, most memorable, or most delicious accidents in history. It's happened before--too many times for me to describe without giving you severe eyestrain. There's a great little book on the topic called Mistakes that Worked by Charlotte Foltz Jones. It's written for kids, but it's the sort of thing that's a fun read even for adults. Some mistakes are familiar. We already know, for instance, that Christopher Columbus meant to sail to Asia, not America. We may never have pondered other mistakes, however. Where would Jack be if his mother hadn't tossed his magic beans out the window? Not up the beanstalk getting golden eggs from the giant's goose, that's for sure. And where would Cinderella be had she not dropped her glass slipper? Cleaning the fireplace, that's where. (By the way, did you know that the original Cinderella story had her wearing a fur shoe? A French writer made a mistake when he wrote the story down in 1697, confusing two homonyms--vair, an old French word for fur, and verre, which is French for glass. But it was a good mistake, making for much more romantic story, and much better fashion.)
And now for the rest...Coca-Cola, chocolate chip cookies, and yellow sticky notes... Both Coca-Cola and chocolate chip cookies were mistakes--or at least unexpected delights. And yellow sticky notes were the result of a failure. Here's what happened:
Innkeeper Ruth Wakefield was baking Butter Drop Do cookies one day in the 1930s using a recipe that dated back to colonial times. She cut up a Nestlé chocolate bar and put the chunks in the batter, expecting them to melt. Wakefield thought she'd be pulling chocolate-flavored cookies out of the oven. Instead, what she got were butter cookies studded with gooey chocolate chips. Her mistake became one of the most favorite cookies of all time.
Coca-Cola was the result of another delicious accident. In 1886 a pharmacist named John Pemberton cooked up a medicinal syrup in a large brass kettle slung over an open fire, stirring it with an oar. When he was done, he figured he had created a fine tonic for people who were tired, nervous, or plagued with sore teeth. Coke didn't make it as medicine, and wasn't even an instant success as a beverage. In the first year, Pemberton spent $73.96 promoting his new product but managed to sell only $50 worth. Today people guzzle 1 billion drinks a day from the Coca-Cola company (they make more than Coke), which is quite encouraging for us everyday screw-ups.
Yellow sticky notes, officially known as Post-it Notes, got their start in 1968 when a 3M researcher tried to improve adhesive tape. What he got was a semi sticky adhesive--not exactly what you want out of tape. Even so, he knew he had something cool--he just didn't know what to do with it. Four years later, another 3M scientist was getting frustrated. This scientist was a member of his church choir, and he kept dropping the bookmarks stuck in his hymnal. What he needed was something that would stick without being too sticky--something just like that weak glue his colleague had accidentally created. In 1980 the Post-it Note became an official product and a huge hit.
This brings to mind a powerful quote by scientist Louis Pasteur, "Where observation is concerned, chance favors only the prepared mind," and another, by writer James Joyce, "Mistakes are the portals for discovery." What they mean is that you should look carefully--and study your errors. You may find things you were never looking for, things that could change the world, or at the very least, taste really good.
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