Blank slate

I asked someone tasked with building an online education program if evaluating competitors was part of his process.

He gave me a stupefied look and responded: “Why would I do that? If we look at others first, we’ll end up subconsciously copying. If we want to be competitive, we need to build something uniquely great. And to build something uniquely great, we need to start with a blank slate.”

Contrary to popular intuition, some of our best and most creative work starts with thinking about what greatness looks like in a vacuum.

This isn’t to say that looking outside for inspiration is always harmful, but maybe don’t start there.

Allow yourself to dream independently first.