Why is it that the most successful work out there seem to be refinements of what already is?
It seems mysteriously difficult to come up with something unique.
Defining ones uniqueness in a market of competitors is among the most difficult tasks placed on anyone who is an entrepreneur. It doesn’t matter what kind of business you are running, whether it be a bakery in a small town, or large Fortune 500, defining the reason of “Why is my business in existence? Why is this my business choice?” beyond the money is difficult, especially when one is starting out.
Sometimes, that question can be crippling. That question can often lead to forms of inaction, rather than action. Even though a mistake can be devastating for a business or an individual, it can be equally if not more so devastating to not act. After all, inaction is also a kind of action; it is the choice to not act faced with a group of decisions.
One thought to hold in the back of ones mind is that at first is perfectly acceptable to admit that one is not unique at all. You may be one of dozens of bakeries in small towns. You may be one of many people in a Fortune 500 faced with similar difficult choices when it comes to the psychology of the matter.
It is better to think of how one is interpreting the ideas previous to you. Radical ideas only come after much distillation.
Picasso once commented:
“Good artists Copy. Great Artists Steal.”
The reason stealing is so difficult is that it is inherently hard to define yourself against another. This is why in an art class, they first teach you to copy. Even Picasso, a master himself, copies Rembrandt for his understanding of light and color. Duchamp, Picasso and photographers for their understanding of space and perspective. Duchamp radicalized art with Fountain, but Nude Descending the Staircase formally is Cubist. Without experimenting with the Nude, he would have never gotten to Fountain.
The iterative, experimental process is a natural one. It may not have a formal path, when one starts. Expect the unexpected, but be clear that there is a goal in the idea itself. Never be afraid to acknowledge that your idea is a distillation of your greaters. Yo may be a giant on your own, but you also stand tall on the shoulders of those who came before.
This is because we learn by doing, including by visceral doing. We learn to draw by drawing, including copying old masters. Successful business often copy each other. What they do differently is mutate the idea enough that it becomes unique for that business.
This is how business become powerful in their own right. They stay nimble by mutating ideas that everyone uses, and adapting it until it becomes completely new. This is the point where we would say- “She stole the idea, how shocking,” as opposed to “Another copy of this fine masterwork, how boring.” In fact, the work was difficult, and the iterative process hard, and the path, perhaps, very long.
Do not worry therefore at the idea of someone asking “What makes this unique?” It may be a process worth sorting out over time, rather than an immediate one- because this is where the great flame of good ideas to alight. This is how business come together, and art moves a person viscerally through a variety of reactions. All good ideas iterate until they get to that point of existing viscerally in ones gut.
- Learning by Doing (ouriel.typepad.com)
Great Art is Stealing
Why is it that the most successful work out there seem to be refinements of what already is?
It seems mysteriously difficult to come up with something unique.
Defining ones uniqueness in a market of competitors is among the most difficult tasks placed on anyone who is an entrepreneur. It doesn’t matter what kind of business you are running, whether it be a bakery in a small town, or large Fortune 500, defining the reason of “Why is my business in existence? Why is this my business choice?” beyond the money is difficult, especially when one is starting out.
Sometimes, that question can be crippling. That question can often lead to forms of inaction, rather than action. Even though a mistake can be devastating for a business or an individual, it can be equally if not more so devastating to not act. After all, inaction is also a kind of action; it is the choice to not act faced with a group of decisions.
One thought to hold in the back of ones mind is that at first is perfectly acceptable to admit that one is not unique at all. You may be one of dozens of bakeries in small towns. You may be one of many people in a Fortune 500 faced with similar difficult choices when it comes to the psychology of the matter.
It is better to think of how one is interpreting the ideas previous to you. Radical ideas only come after much distillation.
Picasso once commented:
The reason stealing is so difficult is that it is inherently hard to define yourself against another. This is why in an art class, they first teach you to copy. Even Picasso, a master himself, copies Rembrandt for his understanding of light and color. Duchamp, Picasso and photographers for their understanding of space and perspective. Duchamp radicalized art with Fountain, but Nude Descending the Staircase formally is Cubist. Without experimenting with the Nude, he would have never gotten to Fountain.
The iterative, experimental process is a natural one. It may not have a formal path, when one starts. Expect the unexpected, but be clear that there is a goal in the idea itself. Never be afraid to acknowledge that your idea is a distillation of your greaters. Yo may be a giant on your own, but you also stand tall on the shoulders of those who came before.
This is because we learn by doing, including by visceral doing. We learn to draw by drawing, including copying old masters. Successful business often copy each other. What they do differently is mutate the idea enough that it becomes unique for that business.
This is how business become powerful in their own right. They stay nimble by mutating ideas that everyone uses, and adapting it until it becomes completely new. This is the point where we would say- “She stole the idea, how shocking,” as opposed to “Another copy of this fine masterwork, how boring.” In fact, the work was difficult, and the iterative process hard, and the path, perhaps, very long.
Do not worry therefore at the idea of someone asking “What makes this unique?” It may be a process worth sorting out over time, rather than an immediate one- because this is where the great flame of good ideas to alight. This is how business come together, and art moves a person viscerally through a variety of reactions. All good ideas iterate until they get to that point of existing viscerally in ones gut.
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