# People who developed very important products/concepts/practices as a result of their everyday job... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 5, 2010, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-developed-very-important-products-concepts-practices-as-a-result-of-their-everyday-job/559566 "2010-11-05T12:51:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-developed-very-important-products-concepts-practices-as-a-result-of-their-everyday-job/559566/1 "2010-11-05T12:51:59Z")
I’m curious of what kinds of stories there are where people with regular jobs (mechanics, baristas, retail salespeople, etc.) who come up with very important/revolutionary products or concepts as a result of the job. I’m not talking about Einstein dreaming up the theory of relativity as a patent clerk. Rather, it would be more like a guy who’s been a mailman for thirty years, and has devised a more efficient way to devise routes, which he gives to the USPS, and it changes the way they draw up their routes (not a true story, just trying to think of an example). Again, it can be intangible things like a way to design mail routes, or it can be an actual product better TV antenna that is developed by someone who installed them for a living (obviously not the most up to date example, but you should get the point). ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-developed-very-important-products-concepts-practices-as-a-result-of-their-everyday-job/559566/2 "2010-11-05T13:01:15Z")
Liquid paper–invented by a secretary who needed a less cumbersome way to fix typos post-it notes–guy looking for strong adhesive invents a weak one, and now they’re everywhere! ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-developed-very-important-products-concepts-practices-as-a-result-of-their-everyday-job/559566/3 "2010-11-05T13:14:16Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Liquid paper–invented by a secretary who needed a less cumbersome way to fix typos > post-it notes–guy looking for strong adhesive invents a weak one, and now they’re everywhere! Gee they are both better stories than you let on: Mike Nesmith of the Monkees was the son of Liquid paper inventor [Bette Nesmith Graham](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_Paper) and the corporate policies of 3M led to the use of [Post it Notes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-it_note). ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-developed-very-important-products-concepts-practices-as-a-result-of-their-everyday-job/559566/4 "2010-11-05T13:28:02Z")
[Student’s t-test.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student%27s_t-test) And how’s this for a coincidence – that just happened to be the very Wikipedia page I had open at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-developed-very-important-products-concepts-practices-as-a-result-of-their-everyday-job/559566/5 "2010-11-05T13:31:45Z")
About any management fad/system/tool which originated in an actual company: 6-sigma, 5S… ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-developed-very-important-products-concepts-practices-as-a-result-of-their-everyday-job/559566/6 "2010-11-05T13:48:58Z")
This probably doesn’t count, because he was an inventor (well, Research Fellow) by trade, but my dad envisioned a revolutionary method for making non-woven fabrics when he was giving me a bath as a kid. See, I had really long hair, and seeing it swirl in the bath water made him realize that water could be used to tangle fibers more effectively than the then-current methods. Took two decades to develop the manufacturing process completely, but now the non-wovens you use everyday in baby wipes, dryer sheets, on diapers and maxipads and incontinence products and more were probably made by some version of the process inspired by my tangled hair! 😃 My grandfather has a patent on the modern disposable diaper, too, but again, that was his job. Still, the changes he made, most importantly by using biodegradable nonwovens to replace a cloth fabric inner layer and a plastic outer layer, were indeed inspired by my mother and uncle’s diaper rash! ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-developed-very-important-products-concepts-practices-as-a-result-of-their-everyday-job/559566/7 "2010-11-05T15:56:12Z")
I’m pretty confident I read somewhere that Frank McNamara invented the credit card when he was a travelling salesman. As far as I recall, he was having dinner in a restaurant during a business trip and had the idea of transposing a concept from hotels - where it had long been customary to charge services to the room bill and settle this bill upon departure - to different stores not run by the same company. McNamara then went on to found Diners Club. Unfortunately, the [Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_X._McNamara) doesn’t recall the precise circumstances. Agreed, concepts similar to present-day credit cards had been around before, but Diners Club was the first in the modern sense, and the first to have a truly big impact on the way we make payments. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-developed-very-important-products-concepts-practices-as-a-result-of-their-everyday-job/559566/8 "2010-11-05T16:00:15Z")
I know the guy who invented the Standard Test for some sort of lab thing which I assume is related to mycology, 'cause that’s what he used to do. Standard is his last name, unfortunately. I’m sure most lab tests were invented by scientists doing their jobs, although I’m not sure that’s really in the spirit of the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-developed-very-important-products-concepts-practices-as-a-result-of-their-everyday-job/559566/9 "2010-11-05T16:40:17Z")
What about [Malcom McLean](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcom_McLean), generally considered the progenitor of container shipping? He was originally a truck driver. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-developed-very-important-products-concepts-practices-as-a-result-of-their-everyday-job/559566/10 "2010-11-05T16:48:50Z")
There’s this, on the origins of Nike: > [@](#): > > Before there was the Swoosh, before there was Nike, there were two visionary men who pioneered a revolution in athletic footwear that redefined the industry. > > Bill Bowerman was a nationally respected track and field coach at the University of Oregon, who was constantly seeking ways to give his athletes a competitive advantage. He experimented with different track surfaces, re-hydration drinks and – most importantly – innovations in running shoes. But the established footwear manufacturers of the 1950s ignored the ideas he tried to offer them, so Bowerman began cobbling shoes for his runners. [http://www.nikebiz.com/company\_overview/history/1950s.html](http://www.nikebiz.com/company_overview/history/1950s.html) > [@](#): > > Bowerman’s design ideas led to the creation of a running shoe in 1966 that would ultimately be named “Cortez” in 1968, which quickly became a top-seller and remains one of Nike’s most iconic footwear designs. Bowerman designed several Nike shoes, but is best known for ruining his wife’s waffle iron in 1970 or 1971, experimenting with the idea of using waffle-ironed rubber to create a new sole for footwear that would grip but be lightweight. Bowerman’s design inspiration led to the introduction of the so-called “Moon Shoe” in 1972, so named because the waffle tread was said to resemble the footprints left by astronauts on the moon. Further refinement resulted in the “Waffle Trainer” in 1974, which helped fuel the explosive growth of Blue Ribbon Sports/Nike. > **[Bill Bowerman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Bowerman)** > > William Jay Bowerman (February 19, 1911 – December 24, 1999) was an American track and field coach and co-founder of Nike, Inc. Over his career, he trained 31 Olympic athletes, 51 All-Americans, 12 American record-holders, 22 NCAA champions and 16 sub-4 minute milers. > Bowerman disliked being called a coach, and during his 24 years at the University of Oregon, the Ducks track and field team had a winning season every year but one, attained 4 NCAA titles, and finished in the top 10 in the nation... ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-developed-very-important-products-concepts-practices-as-a-result-of-their-everyday-job/559566/11 "2010-11-05T16:51:23Z")
When Alice Vachss was putting together a prototype therapy program for sexually abused children, one of her volunteers was a blind woman who had a guide dog. They discovered that children who were scared to talk to adults about the abuse would talk to the dog. When the volunteer moved on, Vachss adopted Sheba, a retired guide dog, and that was the start of the Vachss’s therapy dog program. ---
**Author:** ![GiantRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@GiantRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GiantRat)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-developed-very-important-products-concepts-practices-as-a-result-of-their-everyday-job/559566/12 "2010-11-05T17:35:42Z")
This also probably doesn’t count (but should). Over the course of several long meetings, I devised the invention of the phrase “Listen carefully - '_I don’t f_cking care\*.” It’s like hitting the reset button. More to the OP… a colleague of mine developed a risk management tool (for IT) that did alerting every two hours from multiple sources (can’t say much more, because it’s in the process of going into a sales environment). PERL scripting can be your friend. ETA: He did this because vulnerability management on multiple platforms is a PITA, and felt like a waste of time. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-developed-very-important-products-concepts-practices-as-a-result-of-their-everyday-job/559566/13 "2010-11-05T18:38:02Z")
Teflon was accidentally invented by Roy Plunkett at DuPont when he was researching refrigerants. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-developed-very-important-products-concepts-practices-as-a-result-of-their-everyday-job/559566/14 "2010-11-05T18:55:23Z")
How about [Gatorade](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatorade) Invented by some medical researches at University of Florida to help their football team. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-developed-very-important-products-concepts-practices-as-a-result-of-their-everyday-job/559566/15 "2010-11-06T07:11:50Z")
One of the earliest examples I can think of is [Henry Shrapnel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Shrapnel), a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery, who invented a new kind of shell on his own time. It took him 20 years to convince the British Army to use them. The “bombs bursting in air” line from the Star-Spangled Banner refers to shrapnel shells. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-developed-very-important-products-concepts-practices-as-a-result-of-their-everyday-job/559566/16 "2010-11-06T20:59:00Z")
Remember when car headlights were actually big light bulbs? I worked in a factory that made them. A guy working there designed a machine to shape, wind, and cut tungsten wire for the filaments, more efficiently than before. The company promoted him to a salaried job while he perfected the details of his design. When he finished his design, the company demoted him back to his hourly wage job. As a salaried worker, all his inventions belonged to the company. As an hourly worker, he would have retained his right to the patents. His promotion was a way to take away his inventions. I know that guy. He’s Jack Dollar. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-developed-very-important-products-concepts-practices-as-a-result-of-their-everyday-job/559566/17 "2010-11-06T21:13:40Z")
AutoTune was invented by Exxon for interpreting seismic data. The engineer who invented realized that it could also be used to detect and modify pitch. This is were I was going to link to a comical Autotune youtube video, but I found [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYzv-AVi78E) instead.