Our Inspiration

Our workspace comprises collaborative open areas, private office spaces and meeting room spaces. It's hard to miss "The Innovation Shelf", "Enterco Quote Notes" and wordplay, the "creative" (make up your own rules) version of Scrabble. Outside team activities, there are several community initiatives in the pipeline for 2021. There are many more activities we will add to our list.

Developed on the notion that every item, product, and service started with a simple idea, to fill a' want', a' need', or perhaps a vision. The paperclip being a perfect example, a once novel idea is now mass-produced and well-known. We proudly display the paperclip patent from the year 1919 on our office bookshelf amongst several other items, including the Encyclopedias (the original Wikipedia) and many National Geographics. Of notable significance is the National Geographic from 1982, which showcases "The Chip – Electronic mini-marvel that is changing your life", fast forward 38 years, and this same chip is in every hand-held device. The famous Box Camera and projector from the 1950s take their place on the shelf along with the Typewriter patent from 1896 and a Remington Typewriter from the 1930s. Of course, the list goes on, but you get the gist, it always starts with an idea, a problem, a 'what if?' or 'why'?

Invented over 100 years ago, the paperclip really has not been revolutionised or fundamentally changed in that time. The first paperclip was designed originally to help attach tickets to fabric without leaving a permanent mark. To this day, they are still used in the clothing industry.

Early paperclip manufacturing is an excellent example of how division of labour can be more efficient. By breaking the process into ten individual parts by ten different individuals, they could manufacture around 48,000 per day. However, a single individual working by themselves could not even make 20 (Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations).

Longevity is a word that often gets used to describe how the paperclip continues today to give us a simple and cost-effective way to bind sheets of paper.

The real question is, what inventions or innovation of 2021 will get spoken about in the next 10, 20, or 100 years?

The story of the humble 'Post-It Note' is a great inspiration for entrepreneurs and companies alike.

"Yet as universal as these products have become, their beginnings were far from certain. Looking back, the birth of our Canary Yellow phenomenon reminded us of a valuable lesson: perseverance or persistence can be just as important as inspiration when it comes to bringing an idea to life." -3M

Dr. Spencer Silver, a 3M scientist, was busily researching adhesives and working on creating a super-strength adhesive when he accidentally discovers an adhesive that stuck lightly to surfaces but didn't bond tightly to them.

For years, he couldn't find an application, but he firmly believed in his product. He even became known as Mr Persistent as he would share with everyone. Meanwhile, Art Fry, another 3M scientist, was frustrated that scraps of paper would fall from his hymn book. He needed a bookmark that would stick to the paper without damaging the pages.

The rest, as they say, is history.