His research proved to be unsuccessful as he accidentally created a light adhesive that would stick to surfaces without leaving any trace after removal. This is an example of strategic scanning where instead of getting rid of the idea, he decided to keep working on it and improving it further for other uses. After years of trying to push the idea forwards, he joined forces with Art Fry (a fellow scientist at 3M), together they came with the idea of Post-IT notes which are actively used until now.