3M’s Post-it Accident: Curiosity Beats Certainty
A failed attempt at super-glue became one of the world’s most iconic office products. At 3M, “wasted” experiments weren’t trashed—they were shelved until someone saw them differently. That culture of curiosity turned mistakes into multibillion-dollar wins.

Today’s move:

• Create a “Shelf of Misfits”—a shared doc of failed tests and odd results.
• Run a 20-minute monthly review asking: what else could this solve?
• Celebrate the best repurpose publicly—process pride beats outcome shame.

Curiosity compounds. Often, the idea you “failed” yesterday funds your success tomorrow.

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