Copying Isn’t Competitive, Is It?

Krystal - MirrorThis morning I came across Mike Wittenstein’s article, Can you steal an experience? The short answer, nope.  I encourage you click-thru and read his article (go ahead, we’ll wait…).

I think he’s spot-on.

A number of years ago, I was in a meeting with the VP Manufacturing for a large automotive supplier.  It was not uncommon for some of his employees to leave and go work for a nearby competitor.

We asked, “Aren’t you concerned about them copying your efforts, for ‘acme corp’?”

I’ve never forgotten his response, which was incredibly valid: “No, not at all.  We are competitive at what we do because of who we are and the processes that we’ve developed.  There’s no way anyone else could copy what we do here and be competitive as a result.”

As with your copying experience, more often than not, it simply doesn’t transfer as desired.  Fakes are eventually found out.

Sure, copying does occur. It is why copyrights, trade marks, and patents are all about.  You might follow someone else’s lead and come up with a functional copy of the original.  But the basis for the competition is completely different.  In that case, it’s not a function of copying process or culture.

Most of us can still tell a ‘generic’ apart from the original…save perhaps for generic drugs<g>.

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The Livingston Post is the only locally owned, all-digital information and opinion site in Livingston County, Mich. It was launched by award-winning journalists who were laid off from the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus by Gannett Co. Inc. in 2009.