Don’t Imitate, Innovate

A simple phrase to encourage oneself to do more

I heard this phrase some years ago from a friend, a few hours before starting a challenge at WCG (World Cyber Games) that took place in Argentina. Despite the fact that at that moment he was just making a point (in short, “don’t think like your opponents”), it made me think for many days on the huge possibilities for improvement in other areas, if this concept was used. It had such a deep impact on me, that after so many time, as you can appreciate, I’m writing this article.

I realize that nowadays in this globalized world where we live, the idea of being pioneers in a particular field is really ridiculous, not to say crazy. Unfortunately many people had already been in this earth before us, and that’s why many people think that at the present time everything has been invented. I feel sorry for the people who think this way because it’s just not like that, in fact, every creation entails new creations to be developed! And surely these new ones had not been imagined without that initial idea. Our manner of evolution is like this, thanks to Darwin!

 I’m writing this article while I watch a DVD of “Cirque du Soleil”, a company that began as a start up, was created by Guy Laliberté and Daniel Gauthier in a time in which another forms of entertainment (like TV or video games) had the biggest part of the market isolating the classic cirques (that in those moments took place in a track where a series of shows of different kinds were done, like clowns, jugglers, tigers and acrobats). Those guys saw beyond common sense, they innovated and as the results show, they made a company that nowadays earns U$S600 millions per year! Next, you can see a list of things they took into account for doing so.

Cases like “Cirque du Soleil” exist everywhere, we only need to have one thing quite clear, all these people wasn’t focused in challenging others companies imitating them, like an army of mimes reasonless. Instead of that they just took advantage of that time thinking about what they could offer that others just couldn’t. Nowadays things change very quickly without hesitations, that’s why we need to learn to adapt ourselves in the best way we can trying not to be statics, the professional world demands movement, interaction with other people and reasoning.

In conclusion, we’re in a century where competition is everywhere and it changes fast, we can’t let our time to be wasted thinking about what others did and then try to find a way to improve that idea to win just some crumb of the market. This ( it can be empirically shown following some companies history) carries an unthinkable identity lost, besides it creates a silly competition that aims to make products/services with small improvements, limiting resources (humans) for the innovation task, thereby letting an startup “hold back”. It’s time to start seeing things from a different view, and I think that all of us are responsible to make it happen.

Further information:

¨Don´t imitate innovate article¨

¨Cirque du Soleil ¿Cómo hizo para reinventar el modelo del negocio del circo? ¨

Published by Marcos Pianelli

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An advice from an experienced leader

This post was written by Rob Britton. He’s Advisor to the Chairman, American Airlines (USA) and twice a SABF speaker.

Okay, I’m an old guy, already a grandfather, so it’s easy for me to wag my finger and say “sit down and write an essay,” but if you could know right now how cool and useful SABF is, you would get to work writing the essay and finishing the application. There are few student conferences as dynamic, and none of them in as awesome a city as Buenos Aires. The 2008 theme, “Empowering Agents of Change,” will look at a very relevant question for South American economies – and those in much of the world. Change agents come in many forms, but one consistent reality is that dynamic economies are full of them. SABF 2008 promises to look at that topic and more, to fill your head with ideas and possibilities, to provide a great place to network, and, not least, to have some fun. But the thinking really starts before you get to the conference – what are the most important change agents in your country? Who is driving innovation? If you were “in charge,” what would you do to encourage and empower agents of change in your country?

Published by Rob Britton

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International Opportunities – A Canadian Perspective

This post was written by Patrick Hamer-Meunier. He’s a SABF Delegate at Queen’s University in Canada.

How does one Empower Agents of Change? People say that any person can make a difference in the world, and I agree. However, often it can be a lot more effective to spur change through acting collectively in groups. And what better group is there than a collection of people from around the world, each with their own unique ideals? From this perspective, one could argue that Empowering Agents of Change can be most effective when a group of people from around the world work together to achieve a common goal – working towards the improvement of the South American economy for example.

Published by patrick.hamermeunier

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