you are NOT the only ship on the sea. get over it.
Interesting idea ... As the "Chief Innovation Guy" at my company Kind, a big part of what I do is about keeping the Revolutionary Thinkers that make Kind magical focused on possibilities. One of the biggest distractions that I can probably note, and one of the things that can at times make my work go into what I like to call "passion overload" is the emergence of what "looks like" competition. If you are as revolutionary as you say you are, I am sure you have faced this idea at one point or another while you are trying to spread an idea...
YOUR idea.
This is another opportunity to turn up the passion, and truly prove that you have what it takes to be a contributor in the creative economy.
You are NOT the only ship on the sea. Get over it.
One thing that can "sap the hunger" out of your team faster than anything else on the planet is the emergence of an idea that looks like, smells like or even REMOTELY resembles your teams leading idea. Let me give you some examples of this ... I am not 100% sure of these scenarios happened this way BUT I am going to try and paint a picture so that you can get a good context of what I am talking about.
Scenario ... You are a young start-up company called Gowalla and you are passionate about getting in the geo-location check-in game. You have the idea to make a check-in service that's not only very powerful, BUT it's also sexy as "all get out" aesthetically. You and your team of Ninja's start crafting the work and one day, a colleague sends you a link to a platform called Foursquare. YOU, being the visionary you are quickly reviews the site/platform that is launched and actually gaining some users. You have two choices here...
1. Be dillusional and think that you were the only ship on the sea and go put your head in the sand OR
2. Start to compare feature sets and illuminate your unique value propositions and forge on ...
You are NOT the only ship on the sea. Get over it.
Scenario ... You are a thriving coaching business, and you have been in the game a while. You think of a new and innovative way to extend your coaching practice through a visionary approach to dealing with relationships and you start crafting your ideas, writing a strong case and approach. You go to the bookstore and you pick up a book (in the coaching section) that is similar to what you have been thinking. You have two choices here...
1. Be dillusional and think that you were the only ship on the sea and go put your head in the sand OR
2. Start to compare strategies and illuminate your unique value propositions and forge on ...
Fact: We are in the middle of one of the greatest economic revolutions this country has seen in over 100 years (if not more). Everything is changing and being re-invented. There will be hybrids of every type of technology, every system, every design. In the midst of the revolution, it's not so important if there are other ships on the sea, what IS important is the crew that is sailing the ships that have set sail. Setting sail is the first step, and the rest of what happens is dependent upon the crews ability to be more clever than the waves. It's not so much about the "competition", it is very much about being able to navigate the waves of possibility.
In conclusion ...
Get in your lane and run hard as hell. Do not get so distracted by the artillery that WILL be firing off around you, keep your mind steadfast on the revolution at hand and make a commitment to being a contributor to the "what will be". Some say that "there are no new ideas under the sun..." Believing this would suggest that there are no new problems. Think collaboration and deeper innovation. If a team jumps on your radar, and they are doing similar work, DO NOT put your head in the sand, find out FIRST if you can help or compliment one another.
Creativity and innovation are vast seas of possibility... Trust me, you are not the only ship on this sea. Get over it.



