Stop, Drop, and Roll With It

In 1974 in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, there was a tragedy that would forever change the world. It involved saltwater, and the unfortunate and very unexpected passing of an icon. Bruce was lost to the sea. 

Who is Bruce? 

Bruce was Steven Spielbergs lawyer (not shown).. and also the name Spielberg gave his animatronic shark (shown above), designed for use in the cinematic masterpiece, Jaws. Bruce was intended to be the central star in this thriller. 

But Bruce was only tested in freshwater when he was built. 

The saltwater proved to be highly corrosive to the internals of this animatronic character, and saltwater has greater density than freshwater, creating buoyancy issues that made him difficult to control. 

Filming with Bruce proved to be near impossible and was causing significant delays and cost overruns. In a move that is considered genius, Steven Spielberg adapted his filming strategy, ultimately leading to creation of an even more suspenseful thriller. Jaws wouldn’t be the cult classic it is today if Bruce had not malfunctioned, and the innovative techniques that helped define the film’s iconic status wouldn’t have influenced movies for generations.  

Removing Bruce from most of the scenes and carrying on in spite of the challenge, ultimately made for a better outcome! 

“When we encounter an artistic problem, the reason it’s a problem is typically because it conflicts with our accepted beliefs of what is and isn’t possible. Or our expectations for what is expected to happen.

A song may begin to veer away from our assumed genre. A painter might run out of a certain type of paint. A film director might experience a malfunction with a piece of equipment on set.

When something doesn’t go according to plan, we have a choice to either resist it or incorporate it.

Instead of shutting the project down or expressing frustration, we might consider what else can be done with the materials at hand. What solutions can be improvised? How can the flow be redirected?” – Rick Rubin 

The same year Bruce was sparking out, another malfunction was taking off. Over at the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (better known as 3M) a rather legendary product was finally gaining traction. 

Originally searching for a super-strong adhesive, Dr. Spencer Silver had accidentally created a low tack, repositionable adhesive. This new material sat without a use for almost 6 years, before his colleague, Art Fry, realized it could be used to hold his choir bookmarks without ruining the pages. 

Not able to sell bookmarks the product was given away for free at a marketing event called “Boise Blitz,” where the public demand suddenly skyrocketed as an alternative use was discovered. Sticky notes were born. 3M immediately rebranded the product as Post-It Notes and sales went into the billions. 

In both of these scenarios, improvisation was leveraged to create something that was better than intended. The material could have been discarded, but instead an alternate path forward was chart and the forward momentum continued. 

Improvisation is one of the great hallmarks of innovation. The ability to see, react, and adjust in real time, highlights the power of creative thinking, and a culture that embraces an abundance mindset, which empowers us to reach for more because we don’t know what the future holds. 

Here’s my favorite part; Improvisation only requires an awareness of your environment, an understanding that your destination may have many routes to it, and a willingness to deviate path where a roadblock appears. 

Jaws could have been scrapped when Bruce malfunctioned. Dr. Silver could have thrown out the low tack adhesive instead of rolling with it (for 6 years!). 

A mindset of improvisation can be especially beneficially given what the nature of what we’re engaged in day to day. All you have to do is..

Stop, drop, and roll with it. 

This is also something that can be practiced and honed over time. It only requires that you are open to what could be, instead of lingering on what was planned. 

Just a thought.

🔗 Let’s connect! linkedin.com/in/scottschoeneberger.