When Weaknesses become Strengths

Post-It Notes were invented by accident. 3M were trying to create super strong adhesives for use in the aerospace industry in building planes.  Instead of a super strong adhesive, they accidentally managed to create an incredibly weak, pressure sensitive adhesive agent. The adhesive had two important features: It left no residue after being peeled off and it was reusable. The 3M management was, as expected, unhappy with the product as it was seen as too weak to be useful. The adhesive was constantly rejected for 5 years and confined to the laboratory for the next 7 years. Today, it is a huge hit and one of the most widely asked for and loved stationery item across the world. The story of Post-It notes is actually a story of many good managerial decisions and many bad managerial decisions.

Also, it is one of those cases where the shortcoming in one of your product came as a blessing in disguise. Another such example is the mobile phone battery bank. It is pretty doubtful if any of us would have ever heard of battery banks until the past few years and now, it looks like a basic necessity for any smart phone user. There were no battery banks in India some 10 years ago, neither were the smart phones. Smart phones brought with them a need to have a portable battery backup. Not only smart phones, laptops, tablets and digital cameras can be charged using power banks.

 The power bank is believed to have originated at Las Vegas International Consumer Electronics Show in 2001 when a student pieced a control circuit with a few AA batteries together. Also, believed to have been produced and marketed from 2004-2007, it became a hit with the coming in of iPhone in 2007.  It had a built in battery and the power supply from the electricity did not last more than 4-5 hours (varying with usage). With the coming up of more and more mobile phones having an in built battery, it does not look like going away for some years. 
The figure below shows the consumer behavior regarding the pattern of Smartphone usage. 85% of people use their phones ‘While on the go’, 64% in a store, 59% in a restaurant, 61% in café or coffee shop and 52% at a social gathering. It might not be convenient for all to plug in their charger in a subway and go on with their work.Thus, arises a need for a hero who can save the people in the times of dire need for a portable energy source and power bank emerges as the hero.