Sometimes a man’s name gets inextricably linked to his work. Just like the Wrights are known for flight and Edison is known for light bulbs, Carver is known for peanuts.
Early life
Born no later than January 1864, Carver was raised in Missouri. Treated as a member of the family by the man that owned him in infancy, Carver spent much of his youth on and around Southern plantations. His exposure to, and love of, nature heavily influenced him and served as the basis upon which his innovative genius would take root.
His education took him a long time to complete, more as a result of racial barriers (which severely limited his options) than talent, but he completed both a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science degree, specializing in bacterial botany and agriculture.
The simplest of questions
Very little of what George Washington Carver invented strayed from what he loved. Over 300 products and processes were developed as a result of his interest in crops. Specifically, pecans, sweet potatoes, soybeans and (of course) peanuts are to credit for his innovative ideas.
Tracing the successes of Carver’s career, it seems as if he pursued innovation in the reverse order that most try to accomplish it today. Instead of finding problems and creatively figuring out how to fix them, he took the things he loved and asked them, “What else can you do?”
It turns out that they could do a lot.
Crop rotation
One thing that they could do was reinvigorate the soil.
Most of Carver’s life was lived in the post-war era, but the farming tradition of the antebellum South remained strong. Unfortunately for plantation owners, cotton and tobacco were becoming difficult crops from which to profit.
They proved problematic because they depleted the soil of its natural elements. Therefore, each year the soil would be a little bit worse than it was before. By encouraging farmers to practice crop rotation, Carver increased their ability to earn a profit. The soil could now be restored without sacrificing a harvest.
What else can you do?
By continuously searching for new ways to use crops, Carver effectively created entirely new markets. In doing so, he further increased profitability for Southern farmers by not only giving them more crops to sell but more places to sell them.
George Washington Carver had hundreds of creative ways to use peanuts, soybeans, sweet potatoes and pecans. He invented bleach, ink, linoleum, plastic, paper, mayonnaise, pavement, shoe polish, talcum powder, adhesives and paints/stains from the foodstuffs.
Identifying problems wasn’t Carver’s approach. Instead, he simply focused on discovery and application. This just goes to show that, as far as innovation goes, there is more than one way to skin a cat.
Success
Seeking only three patents in his lifetime, Carver sought almost no substantive economic reward for his work. Crediting God for his ideas, the man allegedly thought it improper to try to sell them to others. He seemed pleased enough to help his countrymen.
In the end, George Washington Carver is widely recognized as one of the great American inventors. Though he was content to let others profit from his ideas, his creative and thorough way of looking at existing resources illustrates the potentially widespread benefits of innovation.