Why—originating from what is supposed to be the creative center of the universe—do so many Hollywood movies look and and sound alike? I came across an opinion about this from independent filmmaker Jim Jarmusch in the Los Angeles Times.

The problem with the studios is not that they make these big, loud productions, it’s that they’re so cowardly, so timid. The corporate mentality is to go the safest way. But name me the most successful businessman in Europe when Bach was writing his music. You can’t. Because that kind of success doesn’t matter.
— Los Angeles Times, August 14, 2005

It is arguable that going the safest way is the least safe choice a company can make in the present economic climate. But that hasn’t stemmed the tide of me-too products and services flooding almost every category—maybe including yours.

There is nothing wrong with legacy products and services if they are your legacy. But seeking security in another company’s business plan carries greater risk than is obvious at first.

It’s no secret that creating original products and services is hard work. Jim Jarmusch, who keeps cranking out interesting, offbeat films—17 at this writing—tacitly affirms the somber wisdom about that in Ecclesiastes:

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.
— Ecclesiastes 1:9-10

Inspiration is not the same as copying. A year or so before the LA Times piece Jarmusch wrote in Movie Maker:

Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery—celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from—it’s where you take them to.”

Is your company a me-too copy shop with a use-by date stamped on the label or are you inspired to greatness by the best thinkers and practitioners—from every age and culture—to innovate in ways your competition will be sorely tempted to imitate?