Monday, November 14, 2005
"Creative" Success
Often, we hear about the importance of standing out in the crowd, especially in business. This is of course vital, but standing out is commonly confused with being original or creative.
The problem with this is truly new and creative ideas are untested. We have no clue where they will lead. They are of course also necessary for advancing society, but I submit that a far larger (like +90%) of development does and should come from finding new ways to use the tried, tested and true.
We have a habit as a people of assuming any really good idea has already been done. If it hasn't been done yet, we assume it's a bad idea.
But this basic assumption is completely irrational and is crushing the potential of every human being who submits to it.
The fact is, there is a whole lot of room for improvement in our lives and in our world. "New" ideas come from simply looking at a problem that really gets under your skin, and developing a solution. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Maybe too simple? Well guess who does just that, and is succeeding immensely because of it. 37signals, Google, and Apple, are all great examples of hugely popular and successful companies who simply developed simple solutions to every day problems. 37signals concluded they didn't expensive, bloated software for the majority of their work, so they made their own tools and made them available to the public for free or at a cost (depending on the tool in question). Google was started as a college thesis that concluded it made more sense to list websites by their popularity and relevance than by keywords and sponsorship. Apple realized PCs were hard to use and ugly as hell, so they made it simple and pretty.
Nothing any of these companies did was actually creative at all. They weren't the first people to say or think about it. They just actual did it.
All you need for this so-called "creativity" is a dedication to the analytical examination of life, more specifically of your life. Because while its irrational (and perhaps even stupid, if I may be so bold) to think everything worth doing has been done, it's completely rational to assume a million people share in your problems.
Solve your problems, then sell the solution. It's a recipe for success. ¶ 8:29 PM
The problem with this is truly new and creative ideas are untested. We have no clue where they will lead. They are of course also necessary for advancing society, but I submit that a far larger (like +90%) of development does and should come from finding new ways to use the tried, tested and true.
We have a habit as a people of assuming any really good idea has already been done. If it hasn't been done yet, we assume it's a bad idea.
But this basic assumption is completely irrational and is crushing the potential of every human being who submits to it.
The fact is, there is a whole lot of room for improvement in our lives and in our world. "New" ideas come from simply looking at a problem that really gets under your skin, and developing a solution. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Maybe too simple? Well guess who does just that, and is succeeding immensely because of it. 37signals, Google, and Apple, are all great examples of hugely popular and successful companies who simply developed simple solutions to every day problems. 37signals concluded they didn't expensive, bloated software for the majority of their work, so they made their own tools and made them available to the public for free or at a cost (depending on the tool in question). Google was started as a college thesis that concluded it made more sense to list websites by their popularity and relevance than by keywords and sponsorship. Apple realized PCs were hard to use and ugly as hell, so they made it simple and pretty.
Nothing any of these companies did was actually creative at all. They weren't the first people to say or think about it. They just actual did it.
All you need for this so-called "creativity" is a dedication to the analytical examination of life, more specifically of your life. Because while its irrational (and perhaps even stupid, if I may be so bold) to think everything worth doing has been done, it's completely rational to assume a million people share in your problems.
Solve your problems, then sell the solution. It's a recipe for success. ¶ 8:29 PM
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The China Stock Blog News and analysis of US-traded Chinese and China-related stocks.
Very cool blog you have here. There’s lots of stuff I enjoyed reading about here and I’m glad I found you.
I have a site and it explains about what is a digot and what a great business it can be. It teaches about what is a digot and lots of other stuff too.
If you get a chance, please come by. We have lots of great information for ideas for working online and working from home.
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