Futuring and Innovation II

Serendipity means a happy accident, defined as "This discovery, indeed, is almost of that kind which I call Serendipity, a very expressive word." by Horace Mann on January 28, 1754. The name comes from a Persian fairy tale from the 14th century titled "The Three Princes of Serendip," where Serendip is Sri Lanka in the Farsi language. The sentence "The Three Princes of Serendip," in Farsi, means "whose heroes were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of." (Scofield, 2011) Serendipity is a major factor of all time discoveries worldwide, and in general, there are three types of Serendipity include: (Meige, 2015)

1. Innovations and discoveries that were not planned and sought.
2. Discoveries and inventions were planned and sought but found in unexpected ways.
3. Discoveries and innovations are found in a way(s) that is not found originally.

For example, a funny but essential drug discovery happened in the early 1990s by Pfizer called Viagra. They were working to develop a medication to treat cardiovascular problems by dilating blood vessels in the human heart. During the trial, a nurse found some strange happenings in men participants when they try the medication. So, they found Viagra by Serendipity with type one, which was not planned and sough to be discovered :)

Error plays a significant role in discovering essential things all the time. Otis Kriegel, an education week teacher, says, "A mistake is a door to discovery. What happened? Why did it happen? What can I learn from this?" This sentence is a golden nugget for those who wonder about how to be an innovator. Many discoveries happened by the error in human history, including Penisilin, which we talked about in our previous boards.

On the other hand, Exaptation is a term used in evolutionary "biology to describe a trait that has been co-opted for a use other than the one for which natural selection has built it." (Parry, 2013) The name "Exaptation" comes from Stephen Jay Gould and Elisabeth Vrba in 1982 to counterpart the concept of "adaptation." The article entitled "Exaptation: How Evolution Uses What's Available" (Perry, 2013) suggests that the very first feathers were not used for flying, and it was used for male attention. 

There are two ways that evolution can create adaptive features include: "(1) adaptation, which is the process of selection that shapes a feature for particular use, and (2) Exaptation, which are the features previously shaped by natural selections for a particular function." (Gould, 1982) 

Reference

Meige, A. (2015, September 18). Serendipity and Innovation. Open Organization. Retrieved 2022, from https://open-organization.com/en/2010/04/25/serendipity-and-innovation/

Parry, W. (2013, September 17). Exaptation: How Evolution Uses What's Available. Livescience.Com. Retrieved 2022, from https://www.livescience.com/39688-exaptation.html

Scofield, D. M. (2011, September 13). Serendipitous Innovation. Forbes. Retrieved 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2011/08/23/serendipitous-innovation/?sh=7741b8d9428d