The Art of Copying Successfully ​

There truly is nothing new under the sun. There are only new ways of combining old things.

No one starts out doing their own thing in a field. You have to learn to play the piano by copying other people’s music before you can write your own songs. You have to read books before you can write them. You have to learn from great painters before you can become one.

There are three basic elements to creativity: copy, transform, combine.

Copy

Led Zeppelin copied or “sampled” intros, bass-lines, and even lyrics from other artists. They are still one of the most popular rock bands ever. Numerous artists got their start by doing covers of other people’s songs. Rarely to bands make their name by coming out with original songs.

Transform

They computer keyboard was based on the keys of a piano. It took five years before the keyboard we all know and use emerged. Thomas didn’t actually “invent” the lightbulb, he just tinkered with improving electric lamps until he created the first commercially buyable lightbulb.

Combine

Every single technological advancement is based on a combination of things already invented. The printing press was invented when Gutenberg combined paper, ink, moveable type, and the screw press. Henry Ford combined assembly lines, interchangeable parts, and automobiles to create a car that could be mass marketed.

In modern day, it’s getting more and more difficult to be a creator. People are more possessive over their individual creations, and less willing to let others be innovative and create something new with it. They want ideas to be boxes, isolated from other ideas. However, based off the examples above, this practice probably isn’t sustainable.

Let ideas meet other ideas.