The truth about innovation: 1. Chance favours the prepared mind

One of the first truths that hit me when I started looking at innovation was that so many great innovations seem to have occured by accident. The harder I looked the more examples that I seemed to find. They seemed to be everywhere. There are just too many of them to have been purely accidental.

Have a look at these examples and see if you can guess what I am describing. You will find the answer if you hover over the "answer" link at the end.

Consumers would not return samples after unsuccessful trials.
Originally intended as a treatment for angina.
Stops flowers from wilting when used in dilution.

The inventor’s name is now associated with a prize.
Formed when nitro-glycerine leaked into packing material.


Developed during WWII in an attempt to produce synthetic rubber.
Formed by dropping Boric acid onto silicone.
Became one of the cult toys of the 1960’s.

The killer application was as place markers in hymn books.
The initial commercial launch was a flop until they were given away for free.
Invented by Art Fry when looking for a use for a glue that didn’t set.


Discovered by 3M in 1952 by Patsy Sherman
When a potential glue was accidentally dropped onto a white canvas tennis shoe.
Nothing could remove the glue or produce a stain.

Developed during WWII by Percy Spencer
Breakthrough occurred when a chocolate bar melted in his shirt pocket while building a magnetron
Domestic appliance related to the radar

And the list goes on....tea bags, Teflon, Penicillin, Vaseline, Velcro, Nylon.... But I think you will have got the point by now. If you are interested in reading about more of these, try "They all Laughed" which provides interesting reading.

To view these innovations purely as accidents does not do them justice. Otherwise, it would infer that these are random events that bestow fame on random people. These innovators saw what others had seen, but made NEW connections. And they acted on them.

Making these new connections requires a "prepared" mind.

Many great inventions are the result of a “Plan B” and this is a fact that many Venture Capitalists recognise. When selecting management teams, VCs will often look for a team that has a track record of being observant and changing tack when the circumstances demand. Management teams that carry on with a plan, no matter what the market tells them, are unlikely to succeed.

These events that show that “Chance favours the prepared mind” - a phrase coined by Pasteur (yes, another prepared mind!) and known as "Pasteur's dictum".