Mike Carruthers

I wanna start looking for ideas like, well, how do you get your head in the game?

But then it seems like it's all about the next step.

The next step after those potato chips was either to do something with them or just throw them in the trash and that's the end of it.

The next step is either to throw that Petri dish away and move on to something else or stop and say, well, wait a minute, it's that next step.

Do you think there's a way or is there a way to plan for this?

I mean, it's not possible to plan to have an accident because if you plan it, then it's not an accident.

But can you plan, can you create the situation where artificially that these kind of innovations and ideas show up?

But you said a moment ago that, you know, take a different way to work or, you know, when accidents happen, notice, what am I looking for on my new way to work?

What am I looking for in this accident other than the fact that it's an accident?

Another thing that interests me about this is when you look at these innovations, you don't usually get a lot of innovations from one person.

You know, somebody comes up with the post-it note or the potato chip or the petri or penicillin, but they don't come up with 10 penicillins.

They come up with one and it's like you're done.

Before you go, give me one more example of this kind of innovative thinking, because I like the stories.

Well, it does seem that it's not just the idea.

It's a formula.

It's an idea with the right person or people at the right time.

It makes you wonder how many great ideas got missed, you know.

Yeah.

Millions.

Millions have got missed.