Richard James and his wife Betty were an ordinary couple living in Pennsylvania in 1943 .
A man with a scientific brain, Richard was attempting to create a way to develop sensitive shipboard instruments to suspend them aboard naval vessels, even during rough seas. He figured working with tension springs could be a solution.
Accidentally he dropped one and noticed with interest how the spring continued to move on the ground upon impact.
An idea was born .
He began a company to mass produce this new toy and Betty came up with the idea of calling it Slinky as it symbolised the motion of a spring.
An original production of 400 were made and the couple managed to convince a department store to stock them over Christmas 1945. They sold out in 90 minutes and the toy became a huge success with over 300 million Slinkys sold in the ensuing years.
Even today over a quarter of a billion Slinkys are sold annually.
It goes to show that what you plan originally may not work, but being aware and positive, an even better solution may arise.
An open mind has the potential for world changing ideas.