By Randy Ross

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Lesson #3 – Can Success Be Copied?

I spend a lot of time in airports and recently studied one of the popular Starbucks’ kiosks. I took photos and noted everything they sell. I even wrote notes about how the employees dress and interact with customers. For all the hoopla about Starbucks, the layout is pretty simple and there are a limited number of products. In the midst of theses observations I had the brilliant idea to copy Starbucks and create Randy$Bucks. I figure I will make my store as close as possible to theirs. I will change the colors a little and lower all of my prices by 25 cents. I will search around and find an ex-employee that will spill the beans (no pun intended) on how to the run the store. So, here is the question – If I exactly copy Starbucks, will I be successful?

                                     Here is my new logo.  What do you think? 

Well, if you said no, you are correct. Even though it is not a difficult task for me to copy the facade and imitate the products, Starbucks has a plethora of advantages. While I may be able to imitate a few of these, the combination of advantages would be almost impossible to duplicate. For example, they have access to prime locations, massive buying power, world class marketing/research and of course insane brand name recognition.

Right about now you are probably thinking, “What does this have to do with me?”  Chances are you are probably trying to be successful by imitating someone else. There is nothing wrong with this on a basic level. A lot can be learned from studying best practices and good role models. The inherent problem though is that you are a unique person and at the end of the day, you need to discover your combination of talents that will create a personal competitive advantage.

Let me share a story with you that may put this in perspective. I applied to teach Masters’ level classes online at a major University. As part the training program an electronic mentor is assigned to help you and to audit your first couple of classes. The first couple of classes went fairly well. I received decent reviews from both my students and mentor. However, something was missing. I was academically proficient and acted the exact way that I thought I should. My students wrote “knock out” papers just good enough to get a grade. The problem though was that everything felt stifled. I asked predictable questions and my students wrote exactly what I wanted to hear. I realized that I was bored in the middle of teaching my own class!

My mentor suggested that I let my hair down. This is a somewhat puzzling metaphor to a bald guy. J  In my third class, I inserted myself into the class. I talked about playing conga drums all weekend, traveling the world and about having been at parties in Berkeley during the 70s. I felt safe saying that last part because a lot of our politicians were at those same parties and none of them inhaled either. And, a miraculous thing happened. My electronic class posting boards exploded with life. There turned out to be lots of fellow musicians and world travelers amongst my students. Instead of asking endless boring questions, I opened virtual think tanks to develop critical thinking. The response level was so crazy that the posting boards overflowed.

The students and I still had to do the same amount of work, but it was now a safe environment to add value by sharing our life and corporate experiences. When you find ways to add value to every situation, your self esteem will soar and your value to your friends and employer(s) will also go up exponentially. If you want to increase your income, think about this. What you are paid is in direct proportion to the value you add, not necessarily how hard you work. A ditch digger adds limited value to a company, so the pay is at the bottom of the scale.  A manager can add huge value simply by making well thought out decisions.

If you are in a situation where you truly can’t add any value, it is time to move on. There are endless opportunities available in the marketplace. In other words, look to see where you can add the maximum value. Do an inventory of your current skill sets and those that you can acquire. Match these “value add” skills to the needs of the marketplace.  Learning COBOL in the current market will not be lucrative but learning to be a .Net developer will have recruiters camped out at your door step.

Just in case you are interested in knowing the hottest demand professions for 2006, here they are as listed on forbes.com.

• Chemical Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Computer Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Computer Science
• Information Sciences and Systems
• Civil Engineering
• Management Information Systems (MIS)
• Accounting
• Business/Finance

          Lesson One |  Lesson Two    |  Lesson Three | Lesson Four   | Lesson Five

          Lesson Six  |  Lesson Seven | Lesson Eight   |  Lesson Nine  | Lesson Ten

 1) List out your top ten talents and qualities. Think about how you can put these together to add value. What new skills can you add that are in desperate need in the marketplace? For example, almost any skill set for the medical field is currently a slam dunk for success. If you are  working now at a $9.00 an hour job, check out a dental assistant program. Less than a year from now you will be hired for $19 an hour before you graduate! 

      2) Focus on what is unique about you. Imitate great skills but project  

      your own personality. The status quo is not going to cut it to be  

      successful. People who try to fit exactly into the system will never

      be noticed.

      3) Critical Thinking  - Throughout the world there are hundreds of thousands of coffee shops. Most of these are one or two store "mom and pop" type operations. What do you think made Starbucks different that allowed them to break this two shop barrier? What combination(s) of advantages do they have now to thwart off current competitors and new entrants? You will soon face stiff competition as you go to achieve your own goals. What can you do to outsmart and leap ahead of the competition?

      Note: Educators and Webmasters, you are welcome to use and 

      modify this lesson material without charge as long as credit is given 

      to the author (Randy Ross) and the website name

      (unstoppablesuccess.com). Send questions and comments to  

      randyross@unstoppablesuccess.com

Copyright 2006 Randy Ross  http://www.unstoppablesuccess.com

          Lesson One |  Lesson Two    |  Lesson Three | Lesson Four   | Lesson Five

          Lesson Six  |  Lesson Seven | Lesson Eight   |  Lesson Nine  | Lesson Ten

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