There was once, I hear, a company, (who shall not be named), who wanted to improve their margins, (and who doesn't?) They made wood cabinetry. And, they were good at it. So, at one point they decided to make something new. Something they might be capable of making. And, that was not yet a commodity. They chose to make fine quality pianos.
"How does one become a maker of fine pianos?", they asked. "Emulation", they answered. And, they decided to emulate the best. They were going to make pianos as fine as Steinway. So, right away they went out a bought a Steinway Grand Piano. The player they hired tested it and it sounded Grand. (Was there any doubt?)
Sure in their abilities they dissembled the piano and measured every aspect and tested every material. After a great many months they were confident they had reproduced every part exactly. Carefully, they assembled a new piano and the tester sat at the keyboard. The tester played.
It was terrible! How could this be? They had copied every aspect perfectly! What could be the matter? They must discover the cause. Comparison with the Steinway was required. They had kept the parts. So, they reassembled it. The tester sat down at the keyboard. The tester played.
It also was terrible! They could not reproduce a Steinway. They could not even make a Steinway piano from Steinway parts. So, they gave up and went back to just making cabinets.
What did they do wrong? Well, their first mistake was copying. Doing it like this does not usually work. But, there was also a second mistake. Maybe even worse. They gave up.
What they did not realize, and most people don't, is that Steinway did not always make great pianos. They started making not-great pianos and improved them and their process to make them over the years. Only after years of making pianos can you make great pianos.
This is where one would normally expect the author to wax philosophic and launch into criticism of current economic activities, industries and organizations. Such a simple extrapolation of the story, however, I leave to the reader.
Look around. Who is copying? Who is making bad pianos, but with a purpose to do better? Only organizations with the yearning and possibility of change can improve. Change involves risk and making mistakes. The organization that tolerates mistakes can grow. The one that does not is already a walking corpse.
Start making bad pianos.
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