Me Too No More

There’s a pattern in business in which an original, breakthrough idea is launched to great fanfare success; then it’s copied repeatedly by the pack of followers. As a result of copy-cat innovation, many industries are swimming in a sea of sameness.

The airline industry, for example, is full of me-too players whose offerings are virtually indistinguishable from each other. The same holds true for soft drinks, big-box retailers, computers, boy bands, and hotel chains: an arms race of replication that lacks meaningful innovation.

The world of coupons was also a commodity until my friends at GROUPON broke the mold. The company offers its members a single, special, ultra-discounted coupon per day and the coupon is only activated when enough people buy it. Collective buying power meets social media meets couponing. This radically different approach propelled the company to become the fastest growing company in US history. After only 18 months in business, the company was publicly valued at over $1.2 billion.

Of course, dozens of companies are now trying to copy GROUPON (unsuccessfully). Rather than doing something remarkable on their own, they play the childhood game of follow-the-leader and wonder why this lemming strategy fails to reach any meaningful success.

Business schools teach us to use careful analysis to reduce costs and increase efficiency, while true innovators are busy changing the world. They realize that creativity, imagination, and original thought have become the currency for success in the new era of business (and life).

Frankly, the world doesn’t need another “me-too” anything. The world craves breakthrough ideas and daring invention. The history books are reserved for people who changed the game, not those that improved margin by 3% or reduced defects by .07%.

The good news is that you have a choice. You can follow the herd, play it safe, and copy others or you can unleash your true creativity and do something bold and unique. Drive instead of ride. Create instead of do. Lead instead of follow. Invent instead of copy.

When you take a stance and explore the possibilities, the creative act will flood you with inspiration and fulfillment. Be daring and courageous. Let your imagination soar. And the next time a colleague suggests a copy-cat move, stand up boldly and proclaim, “ME TOO NO MORE!”

Read More

New Thinking for the New Era of Business

Albert Einstein famously noted, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that we used when we created them.” In our post-COVID world of ...

When an Astronaut Needs a Pen

Ever get stuck on a problem, only to realize you're solving for the wrong thing? That's exactly what happened when the rocket scientists at NASA ...

How Shake Shack Drives Innovation

Do you prefer the crispy mozzarella, tempura watercress, and black garlic mayonnaise cheeseburger or the pumpkin mustard, bacon, cranberries, and sage hot dog? For something ...

Lady Gaga’s Secret to Creativity

Just before she won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, I watched Lady Gaga dazzle the live audience with a pitch perfect performance of ...

Creativity: Does Size Matter?

For some reason, we’ve been taught that for creativity and innovation to count they need to have a magnitude the size of the 1989 San ...

The Lexicon of Creativity

There’s more confusion around the meaning of the word innovation than the chaos at the airline ticket counter after a cancelled flight. Is there a difference between ...

The Brain Science of Becoming More Creative

When we hear stories about iconic leaders like Salesforce.com’s founder Marc Benioff, or widely celebrated virtuosos like Lin-Manuel Miranda for that matter, we immediately think ...

Correct the Overcorrect

When the misguided leaders at Enron, Tyco and Worldcom committed fraud and marred their shareholders with huge losses, the Securities and Exchange Commission rightfully swooped ...

Learning to Color

Fact: Creativity has become the most needed skill in business. It’s gone from a nice-to-have to becoming mission-critical. Fact: Creativity is a learnable skill. All humans have ...