Innovation through Bisociation: Does Copying = Creativity?
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In our pursuit of innovation, we often pressure ourselves to create something entirely new. But what if the key to breakthrough innovation isn’t starting from scratch, but rather intelligently borrowing and adapting ideas from other domains?
Steve Jobs noted, "Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while." This perspective challenges our romantic notion of creativity as pure invention.
Consider Apple's track record: they weren't first with the MP3 player, smartphone, or app store. Instead, they excelled at being "second but better" – waiting for others to prove the market or technology, then implementing it with superior execution. This strategy has made them one of the world's most valuable and innovative companies.
Check out this chart for some other examples of borrowing across industries:
The theoretical foundation for this approach dates back to 1964, when Arthur Koestler introduced the concept of "bisociation" in his book The Act of Creation. He defined it as the process of connecting two previously unrelated matrices of thought to produce new insights. This concept helps explain why cross-industry innovation can be so powerful.
But this raises an age-old debate: To copy or not to copy?
Pablo Picasso famously declared, "Good artists copy; great artists steal," while Leonardo da Vinci warned, "The painter will produce pictures of little merit if he takes the work of others as his standard."
So, who's right?
Five areas where we can borrow ideas
I explored the topic in the latest 4th Option junto with my network of strategy and innovation coaches. The answer lies in how we copy and what we do with what we borrow. Research into cross-industry innovation reveals at least five distinct areas where we can effectively borrow ideas:
Culture: CarMax revolutionized used car sales by borrowing customer service practices from retail, transforming a traditionally high-pressure environment into a customer-friendly experience.
Technology: GE HealthCare created the MRI by repurposing radar technology from a completely different field, demonstrating how technological solutions can find new applications across industries.
Business Models: Rolls-Royce transformed their business by offering "propulsion as a service," adapting subscription-based models long before they became widespread.
Practices: Apple stores reinvented retail by borrowing the concierge model from luxury hotels, creating a distinctive customer experience that others now try to emulate.
Strategy: Tesla disrupted the automotive industry by approaching it with a consumer electronics mindset, focusing on software updates and direct-to-consumer sales.
Other examples of successful cross-industry innovation include Netflix borrowing personalization algorithms from e-commerce to revolutionize content recommendation, and Airbnb adopting professional photography practices from real estate to transform how people view temporary accommodations.
Sheena Iyengar, in her Think Bigger Innovation Method, calls it “looking inside and outside the box” of your industry to find solutions that have been tried already.
As Harvard professor Amy Edmondson points out, intelligent failure comes from trying new things – but only after thoroughly examining what others have already attempted. The key is not to blindly copy, but to understand, adapt, and improve upon existing solutions.
Try it in your organization
Want to put it into practice? Try this exercise that 4th Option coach Adam Siegel uses with his clients. Start by identifying a company you admire outside your industry. What is it about what they do that you admire? Consider the 9Ps (position, product, pricing, place, promotion, processes, physical experience, people, and purpose) as a guide. Which of the Ps could you apply in your own organization?
To learn more, check out this article that 4th Option coach Jill Hellman shares with all of her clients: Sometimes the Best Ideas Come from Outside Your Industry. Remember, innovation doesn't require reinventing the wheel – sometimes it's about putting existing wheels in new places, with your own unique spin.