The 3M Company encourages creativity from its employees. The company allows its researchers to spend 15 per cent of their time on any project that interests them. This approach has brought fantastic benefits not only to the employees but to the company itself. Many times, a spark of an idea, turned into a successful product, has boosted 3M’s profits tremendously.
Around 1974, Arthur (Art) Fry, a scientist in 3M’s commercial office, came up with an idea for one of 3M’s best-selling products. It seems that Art Fry dealt with a small irritation every Sunday as he sang in the church choir. After marking his pages in the hymnal with small bits of paper, the small pieces would invariably fall out all over the floor.
Suddenly, an idea struck Fry. He remembered an adhesive developed by a colleague, Spencer Silver, that everyone thought was a failure because it did not stick very well. “I coated the adhesive on a paper sample,” Fry recalls, “and I found that it was not only a good bookmark, but it was great for writing notes. It will stay in place as long as you want it to, and then you can remove it without damage.”
Yes, Art Fry hit the jackpot. The resulting product was called Post-it! and has become one of 3M’s most successful office products.
The 3M Company, formerly known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation based in Maplewood, Minnesota, USA. With $30 billion in annual sales (2015), 3M employs 88,000 people worldwide and produces more than 55,000 products with operations in more than 65 countries.
The Post-it Note (also sometimes called a sticky note) is a small piece of paper with a re-adherable strip of glue on its back, made for temporarily attaching notes to documents and other surfaces. In 1977, test markets failed to show consumer interest. However in 1979, 3M implemented a massive consumer sampling strategy, and the Post-it Note took off. Today, we see the Post-it Note peppered across files, computers, desks, and doors in offices and homes throughout the country. From a church hymnal bookmark to an office and home essential, the Post-it Note has colored the way we work.