Did you ever notice how many times and in multiple ways different companies practice Borrowing Ideas from one another.  Whether it is the fast food industry, eye care, automobiles, home building or even ice cream… success in any industry may be quietly adopted by other entities as part of the competition mindset.

Does this happen in the area of leadership… or do individuals think that traditional or current concepts are “old news”?  Well please read through this GREAT TED TALKS quote from author Harriet Minter to give you some insight into my TRIPLE III TIME Borrowing Ideas message and recommendation.

“When we, as leaders, are faced with a problem, we can sometimes feel that it is our job is to find a unique solution to it. However, when we open our eyes to other industries and technologies, we might just find that someone has already done the hard work for us, saving us time and potentially giving us a better solution than the one we would have come up with.”

I was lucky enough in my career to have both an encouraging Board and dedicated staff to begin Borrowing Ideas from other business sectors and blend them into our service designs.  Was this action always successful… no?  But did it create and maintain an energy of continuous improvement and innovation in our organization… YES!

Bottomline: Often the greatest challenge when considering Borrowing Ideas from another service/product area is that plain fear of failure.  So maybe start small but if the concept you are considering borrowing has found success in another business/agency… it will… even in a partial way… offer progress for you too!