Unique Contribution

Find the moves that you, and only you, can make to bring about the changes you want.

along the path to finding Your Innovations, you’ll come up with an idea that you think is unique, but then you’ll discover that the idea has already been thought of and developed to some degree.

The rules of capitalism encourage us to compete with each other, but spending your time doing what someone else is already doing may prevent you from making real innovations.

  • When you come up with a promising idea, do a search and try to find out if someone is already doing it. If someone is already working on the same solution, there is little need to duplicate their efforts. The need to find a superficial differentiating idea and enter into competition with someone is a finite game. The infinite game is based on cooperation. If you find an existing project:

    1. If it’s not an open project—Open Artifacts—encourage the project owners to open it; offer your services to convert it to an open project.

    2. If it is an open project, see what you can contribute to it.

    3. When you’ve contributed all you can (and learned from it), move on.

  • If the existing project refuses to become an open project, it might be necessary to create your own open version of it. I’m not sure about this, though. Copying it still seems like a waste. I don’t think I’d copy it unless you saw a way to truly transform it into something unique.

  • If you have ideas and find that others are already doing them, don’t be discouraged. Its a sign that you are on the right track. Eventually, you will find an innovation that is uniquely yours, based on who you are.

  • Richard Feynman talked about his early years learning about physics. He would have a brilliant idea only to discover that someone else had thought of it 200 years before. But then his next idea had been thought of by someone just 100 years before. He kept moving up through the history of scientific discovery until he was finally at a full understanding of the present day, then his ideas became the cutting edge and true innovations.

Therefore:

Make sure that you are making a unique contribution by looking for anyone doing the same work as you. If you find someone else developing the same idea, contribute what you can, and learn what you can, then move on.

It’s a common error to want to be seen as the savior, and therefore to duplicate the efforts of others so you can lead the project, so examine your Motives before starting a project that’s similar to an existing one

Notes/patterns mentioning this pattern