Thinking Space

The biology term exaptation was coined by great evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould to explain a trait that can evolve because it served one particular function, but subsequently, it may come to serve another.

For example, although today most birds use their feathers to fly, it would be incorrect to say that this means that feathers emerged in these birds specifically for flight. In fact, feathers first emerged in dinosaurs for the purposes of insulation or attracting mates, not flight.

Sometimes inventions that are done in isolation become a catalyst for innovation in a completely different domain. Bubble wrap was invented in 1957 by Alfred W. Fielding and Marc Chavannes by sealing two shower curtains together and capturing bubbles of air on the inside. They first tried to sell it as wallpaper, but there were no takers. Then they tried marketing it as greenhouse insulation, but this failed. Then the company took it to IBM as a way to protect all their new business computers while in transit. The usage took off and the product developed into the bubble wrap we have today.

Too often we get stuck in “functional fixedness,” a mindset where we see in things only their intended use, rather than their potential use. Sometimes things that have no apparent purpose at the outset can later be co-opted into use. Having to know the benefits of everything before you begin leads to missed opportunities.

While we always track every change to business benefits immediately, having a few exaptations in your enterprise toolset would often help you change quickly and might outcompete the competition.