Dear reader,
I’m travelling this week, so the newsletter is brief and to the point. I’m reposting a little piece about creativity and innovation, which I hope you’ll like.
Also, bestselling writer James Clear (Atomic Habits) has an interesting perspective on problems, which I’m sharing with you below.
Have a great week!
-Renato
The birth of Post-it Notes
Art Fry had a little problem that vexed him: when he sang in his church choir, the bookmarks in his hymnal kept moving around or falling to the floor. One Sunday in 1974 he recalled that a colleague at work, Spencer Silver, had developed an adhesive. The glue wasn’t very marketable, but it did have some unique properties: it did not leave a residue, and was strong enough to stick to things but still weak enough to remove easily. Fry decided to apply some of the adhesive along the edge of a piece of paper. His bookmark problem was solved.
You may have heard the story before. Fry and Spencer worked at the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, also known as 3M. From that simple idea the company developed the product that we all know as the colourful Post-it notes, now sold around the world.
This story illustrates a point about ingenuity. As Apple founder Steve Jobs summarized: “Creativity is just connecting things.”
Jobs’ life is an example of how varied experiences can come together to inspire creativity. The idea of calling the company “Apple Computer” came to him from spending time at an apple orchard in Oregon where he attended a spiritual retreat. Jobs also spent some time at an ashram in India and experimented with calligraphy in a class at Reed College. These were experiences that were quite different from daily life in the suburbs and stoked his creativity. These same memories later shaped his thoughts about simplicity and design, which he so famously applied to the computer business. When Apple built the Macintosh computer, the company hired musicians, artists and poets along with engineers.
Another important innovator, Leonardo da Vinci, also saw the value of those inter-disciplinary connections. He wrote, “Study the science of art. Study the art of science. Develop your senses - especially learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else."
A contemporary expert in thinking, Edward de Bono, believes that “creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.”
That’s motivation for all of us to get out there and try different things...
~~~
Author James Clear’s perspective on problems
I split problems into two groups: muddy puddles and leaky ceilings.
Some problems are like muddy puddles. The way to clear a muddy puddle is to leave it alone. The more you mess with it, the muddier it becomes. Many of the problems I dream up when I'm overthinking or worrying or ruminating fall into this category. Is life really falling apart or am I just in a sour mood? Is this as hard as I'm making it or do I just need to go workout? Drink some water. Go for a walk. Get some sleep. Go do something else and give the puddle time to turn clear.
Other problems are like a leaky ceiling. Ignore a small leak and it will always widen. Relationship tension that goes unaddressed. Overspending that becomes a habit. One missed workout drifting into months of inactivity. Some problems multiply when left unattended. You need to intervene now.
Are you dealing with a leak or a puddle?
-From the James Clear newsletter, March 28, 2024
Thanks for reading this newsletter. To see what else I’ve been writing about, you can always go to the home page, located here.
My little sketch this week is of the Grand River in Ontario.
Cheers,
-Renato.
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Safe travels, Renato! It’s interesting to think about these innovations that are so much a part of our daily lives. Calligraphy was big at Reed College. First taught by Lloyd Reynolds and then Robert Palladino who was my teacher when I was a student at Reed in the early 80s. Steve Jobs also learned fonts and scripts from Robert who was incredibly gifted and funny.