A jailhouse tattoo artist, microbiologist, and European engineer walk into a bar. And the World changes!

 

While I do not condone criminal activity, I am always amazed at the ingenuity of the prisoner population. Having 24/7/365 to solve problems is a sure-fire way to cure the boredom in prison. Defining exaptation within the concrete walls of a typical prison, what object can a Bic pen or Sharpie, battery, tape, toothbrush, and a small beard trimmer motor make?  Now throw in an untrained but aspiring artist, and we have a prison-made tattoo parlor. Amazingly, those components can easily be repurposed into something that can cause reflection, strike fear in the hearts of viewers, and a sense of purpose.

Do you remember your last trip to an amusement park or state fair? Was it during the height of the summer months, and you were looking for a way to cool down? As you looked to your left, you saw the ice cream kiosk known as Dippin’ Dots. You ordered your favorite flavor and were amazed by the “Future of Ice Cream.” Nearly 40 years ago, Curt Jones was a microbiologist working in laboratory flash-freezing animal feed using one of the coldest liquids in the world- Liquid Nitrogen.  Through trial, error, lots of yogurt, and nearly 320 degrees below zero liquid nitrogen, frozen BB-sized ice cream balls were born.

It is summertime, and if you may have taken a walk in the park, just cut your grass, or a finished a stroll on the beach. You have picked on at least one hitchhiker along the way. You might not have noticed until you went to take off your shoes and socks, but that hitchhiker is now in your home. In the mid-1940s, George de Mestral saw these hitchhiking seeds and was intrigued by their properties to latch on securely to a host. This serendipitous discovery has changed to the world as he was the creator of Velcro. This multi-use fastening method is used almost everywhere today, including in space by NASA astronauts.   

A jailhouse tattoo artist, microbiologist, and European engineer walk into a bar.  Now the world is a little better for each of these inventions using serendipity, exaptation, trial, and error. These inventions occurred out of necessity and curiosity. The takeaway here improvement is all around us. There is always a better way to do something, using the power of Grit, and never giving up to solve a problem may lead to the next worldwide phenomenon.