GUEST POST from Mitch Ditkoff

I’m a collector of best practices. I like to find out what forward thinking individuals and organizations have done to accomplish extraordinary results.

Sometimes I share these stories in my keynotes or workshops.

Invariably, my stock rises when I tell these stories. People think I know stuff. They get giddy. They take notes. They think about how to adapt these best practices to their organization.

But then things get weird.

People start becoming satisfied with emulating other people’s lives. Instead of thinking up their own best practices, they imitate. Ouch!

The spirit of innovation gets replaced by the religion of innovation.

Gone is reflection. Gone is the process of discovery. Gone is the ownership that comes with birthing new insights. In it’s place? Simulation. Imitation. And, all too often, the blind following of pre-packaged solutions.

I’m not saying there isn’t value in paying attention to other people’s best practices. There is.

But when when imitation replaces creation, something invariably gets lost — and innovation eventually goes down the drain.

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