Post-it® Notes

Serendipity Stories bring the practice of serendipity to life in real-world examples.

In 1968, Dr. Spencer Silver, a researcher at 3M, was working on adhesives, aiming to create a super-strong adhesive for the aerospace industry. Instead, he created something that seemed like a failure-a “microsphere” adhesive that stuck but could also be peeled off easily, leaving no residue. While fascinating, this “low-tack” adhesive at first appeared to be a solution without a problem.

But Silver didn’t dismiss his discovery as a failure. Instead, his scientific curiosity drove him to keep exploring its potential. For five years, he gave presentations about his adhesive throughout 3M, sharing it widely even without a clear application, always persistent and always open to unexpected possibilities.

In 1974, another 3M scientist, Art Fry, was growing frustrated that his paper bookmarks kept falling out of his hymnal during choir practice. Having attended one of Silver’s presentations, he made a connection between his everyday problem and Silver’s unique adhesive. Instead of just theorizing, Fry took action, contacting Silver. They both dove in, heading to the lab to experiment with applying the adhesive to paper.

While it worked as a bookmark, the final breakthrough came organically, when the two men started using their prototype notes to communicate…