Antimimeticisomorphism

http://www.ExponentialPrograms.com

Antimimeticisomorphism, is that a mouthful or what?

Anti-mimetic-iso-morphism.

Let's digest it one bite at a time.

Do you remember what you did when you decided to start your own business, or when you were given more market and/or sales responsibility?

You probably did what just about everyone else does in your situation— you found out what others had done and you went ahead and duplicated it. Of course you introduced improvements and a customized approach, but essentially you mirrored what others firms were doing.

In the academic literature it's called mimeticisomorphism. As an industry progresses, firms transform (morphism) their patterns of behavior to resemble (mimetic) each other (iso) more and more.

Think about it this way, what happens when a competitor does something that works? Everyone jumps on the bandwagon to do the same, e.g. frequent flyer (air) miles, supermarket discount coupons, free delivery, rental car upgrades.

What I am proposing is that you do the opposite, turn the tables and ask different questions. Instead of asking "How do others do X?" Ask "How can X be done differently?"

Often when I make this suggestion, I get a response something like "But if all the people do it this way (X), they can't all be wrong. X must be the most efficient and most economical way, so there is no incentive to do otherwise".

Wrong!

If you want extra-ordinary results/profits/growth, you have to do something out-of-the-ordinary.

That's where the anti in antimimeticisomorphism comes in.

Anti. The reverse of. The inverse of. The opposite of.

This is setting you up to think counter-culture, out-of-the-square...

Try to come up with 2 or 3 basic assumptions of presuppositions that your industry takes for granted as a 'given'. Take the following example that should rock your world...

Restaurants traditionally have had menus with fixed prices. If you accept to eat there, you accept to pay the final bill. One restaurant decided to do things differently. It gave clients the choice to determine what price they wanted to pay. If they weren't satisfied, they could just get up and walk out!

Question:
How long would you last if you offered this unique twist?

They had line ups every night of the week! On the flip side, imagine how good your food and service must be to remain profitable — everyone wins! Yes, some people do abuse the system, but they are a minority. Abuses are more than offset by the clients who do pay handsomely for a wonderful evening.

Antimimeticisomorphism... Intriguing isn't it?

To see more examples of Antimimeticisomorphism, go to this 'secret site'...

http://www.Antimimeticisomorphism.info

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