- Originality is a myth.
- Copying great ideas is key to breaking through obstacles.
- Make the ideas you copy your own by adding your point of view.
Many of us are obsessed with originality. However, many of the biggest leaps forward in industry happen not due to originality but from copying.
Jacob Laukaitis writing at Fortune provides several examples.
- Uber “copied” Lyft’s ridesharing model.
- Facebook “copied” Foursquare’s check-in feature (that’s just one example from Facebook. We could create an entire list of copied features).
- Apple “copied” Xerox’s mouse and design.
Clark Kegley walks through the difference between copying and plagiarism. He advocates for copying the underlying style but inserting your unique point of view.
The analogy he gives is fantastic. Copying is like taking apart a car, learning everything about it, and creating your own car with improvements to design, mechanics, and build. Plagiarism is slapping your own branding on the car you took apart and passing it off as your own.
See how our fitness business management software can help you copy and implement great ideas. Contact us today!
Steal Like an Artist
Kegley’s discussion centered on Austin Kleon’s Steal like an Artist. Austin gave a fantastic TED talk. Check it out.
T. S. Elliot said bad artists deface when they steal, whereas great artists turn it into something different and better.
Think about how this practice might apply to your own approach to building your fitness business/brand. What great ideas could you copy, build on, and improve?
Where you don’t need to re-invent the wheel, don’t! Copy a great idea!
Let the team at Exercise.com show you how to increase your revenue and engagement. We’ve got GREAT ideas we’d love for you to steal. Request a demo today!