In reality 90% of the time, someone else is already doing it, have done it, planning to do it tomorrow or next week. In all likelihood, others have already dreamt or thought about it. It may not be in the market yet or someone has tried and failed.
It may wise to acknowledge this and instead "try to reinvent the wheel", going against the conventional wisdom. How's this?
Perhaps five years ago when someone in a business meeting said "Let's get into entertainment business. Organize a talent time contest and make money from it..." Huh? The word "talent time" is not even cool. It was very popular during the seventies (remember that Eurovision song contest and someone by the name of Dana won it with "All Kinds of Everything"?) . Someone said "This sort of song competition gets boring very quickly".
Fast forward today and imagine the wise guy suggested it this way "Yeah talent time but with a difference. Why don't we DON'T FOLLOW the old wheel. Let's reinvent it. Instead of the usual judges, let the people be the judge. Hey, we have sms!"
So the formula of "You be the Judge", where public send in their votes by sms for their favorite singer, throw in an interesting panel with someone acid-tongue like Simon.. and the rest is ...American Idol and all the similar franchises that followed.
Another 'old wheel' treasure hunting has been given a fresh look and when blended in with some travel adventures, a hit 'Survivor' was born. You know it's a success when clones start sprouting here and there.
Donald Trump has reinvented one of the oldest 2 words into showbusiness success "You're Fired". With slick modern choreography, music timed to excite the senses, a chance to peer into others' real life nail biting situations (hey it's fun guessing who's gonna be fired) and we have the hit "Apprentice" and reality shows cliche cropped up all over.
Perhaps this best sums it up. In the online edition of the San Francisco Chronicle on 7th August 2005, the article title was "China's juggernaut has region on edge. Singapore nervously tries to reshape its business profile" and it followed "... and people are being urged to do what until now has seemed totally unnatural. Take risks! Be spontaneous! Be creative!"
