The Genius of Refinement: (and the Zipper that almost wasn’t)

You probably used one today and didn’t give it a second thought. The zipper.

Tiny teeth, tidy track, satisfying little zzzip.

Simple, right?

Nope.

It took three inventors and over 60 years to get it working.

And most of that time?

People thought it was useless.

In 1851, Elias Howe (the sewing machine guy) had the first idea.

But he dropped it.

Then came Whitcomb Judson in the 1890s.

He made a clunky version for boots.

It jammed, broke and …flopped.

And then, finally, in 1913, Gideon Sundback took a look at the mess and said, “Wait. There’s something here, with fresh eyes he saw something.

He made it work.

Quietly. Carefully.

Yet even that version? It took another 20 years to catch on.

Not all breakthroughs come with fireworks.

Some arrive slowly.

They knock, and if our head is busy we ignore them.

They can show up half-baked and weird and impractical.

And if we’re not careful, too busy to check them out properly, we leave them behind.

But refinement is a form of genius.

So if you’ve got an idea... a calling... a version of you that still feels rough or misunderstood, don’t walk away from it. 

You might be standing at the halfway point of something that needs you to stay in it.

Because let’s be honest:

Some of your most soul-aligned ideas may not look like brilliance at first.

They’ll look like trial and error. 

Like no one’s buying. 

Like it’s not working.

Until one day… zzzip. It clicks.

Trigger the confetti.

Ready to refine the next chapter of your life or work? Explore the Ignite Series.

Learn More About the Ignite Series