Thursday, July 23, 2009

Innovation Quick Hits - If at first you don't succeed....

John Barry died this month. He was 84. Why do we remember Mr. Barry? He became president of Rocket Chemical Co. in 1969 and was involved in a great innovation. Rocket later became the WD-40 Corporation. Interestingly, WD-40 started out as an agent to protect the skin of the Atlas Missile from corrosion but was so popular it became available in local stores in the 50's as the lubricant we all know and love. WD stood for water displacement ( no water, no corrosion). The significance of the 40? Turns out the formula worked on the "40th" try.

Are you willing to try 39 times before your "Eureka" moment? As Edison was quoted as saying, "Innovation is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration".

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