Have you ever had one (or many!) of those moments where you’re so excited about an ingenious idea your clever brain has given you only to discover that the original idea you’d mentally high-fived yourself over is not original at all? And not only that, someone else has executed it far more brilliantly than you think you ever could?
Thought so.
This has happened to me more times than I can count. Most recently it happened when I came up with the #DreamPlanDoDay concept. It’s a simple idea; take time out of your life to focus on cultivating a new idea for your business, gather other women who want to do work on their business too, and harness their collective energy in one room for a whole day. I started planning the day, researching venues, doing some market research, working out how to structure the day, and then I stumbled across another Australian woman doing something similar but on a much bigger scale.
*sigh*
But I ran with my idea anyway and #DreamPlanDoDay is now a reality. It’s happening on the 16th of July. It is going to be amazing. So far, I have gathered 14 creative business women who see the value of what the day offers – time out from your regular schedule to focus on creating, planning and doing something meaningful for your business. What will make my day unique is me, the women who come and the challenges we all bring.
So even though my idea isn’t original (and neither is the ‘other Australian woman’s – I am petty enough to not want to name her here) the way I execute it will be and I take some comfort from knowing that I independently came up with the idea even if it’s not unique. And this is true for all of my unoriginal original ideas.
How original is original?
How original is original anyway? How many new stories, new inventions and new ways of doing things are there? Is there any originality left in the world?
While grumbling about being unoriginal, a dear friend steered me toward the video series ‘Everything is a Remix’ by Kirby Ferguson. (Part two below is my favourite because it looks at remixes in movies and storytelling).
There are some fabulous lessons in this video series about originality, or should I say, our lack of it. Ferguson examines music, movies and inventions to bust myths about originality to show that copying, variation and combining ideas is at the heart of all great ideas. Hooray! I needed to hear that.
“Creation requires influence. Everything we make is a remix of existing creations, our lives and the lives of others.”
– Kirby Ferguson.
What do you think? Do you see the remix in the things around you and your business? Let me know in the comments below.
