Business Lesson from Aesop

What can we learn from Aesop’s Fables of the Ass and the Grasshopper?

An Ass having heard some Grasshoppers chirping, was highly enchanted; and, desiring to possess the same charms of melody, demanded what sort of food they lived on to give them such beautiful voices. They replied, “The dew.” The Ass resolved that he would live only upon dew, and in a short time died of hunger.

The message is all too clear, one person’s methods are not the same as yours. Mimicking the tactics of others without understand the purpose or strategy is harmful to your strategy and long-term success.

Many companies see a successful business and figure if they duplicate the tactics they will earn the same market awareness and thus the same results. I take Apple as a prime example. We see Apple as an industry leader, dominate brand and strong culture and any one of us would enjoy the same results. What people fail to remember is the challenges Apple faced in their early years. The were not as successful as one would imagine. They did not gain market share overnight. Applying another organizations tactics without understanding their strategy or having very similar strategies is pure foolishness. Like the Ass, you are not the same as those you admire. Mimicry may be the highest form of flattery, but it also is the highest form of failure in business.