I am suggesting a one-up-level conversation here. You can either look at the trick or ask yourself why the trick was executed like that. And that answer, which you won’t be able to find unless you ask that person, is exactly the secret recipe for why others can’t copy you. Well, they can, but it won’t feel the same (yes, Basquiat-hoggers, we just made this term and we are calling you out in advance).
How often do you run into this moment on social media? You see something and you whisper (at times, depending on where you’re at or if you talk to yourself ((you should btw))), “I have seen this before, I get the idea, but still, what is going on here?” We don’t know about you, but as rigorous as the role of a publication requires its editors to be, we run into this a lot online. You look at this content and feel like you’ve seen it before, yet you can’t pinpoint what exactly, but you’ve seen it at least five different times from five different creators. Yet through it all, one of them simply conveyed the message a lot better. Ever stopped to ask yourself why? What was so special about them? Five people, yet this one had it differently. That’s perspective.
That perspective is indeed the most important tool in a creative toolbox.
Without a real perspective we can’t provide anything unique to the people around us, be it our family, friends, workplace, even your local barista. We all must have and keep our perspective, the one that is unique to us, and not fall prey to the slopification social media is forcing upon us as it tries to skew our ideas and how we see things.
Thought it was going to stop at social media? No!
No one said your perspective is immune to your close circle, and your friends also might skew your perspective and make you change what you think of something. If that’s not handled properly, you can lose access to that unique aspect of yours, the one that made you stand out and, on a personal level, made you feel like you are actually standing for something, or providing something new, in business and in life.
When we fully understand the power of perspective, we are not offended when others copy us, for two reasons. A, it means they don’t understand the thought process and mechanic behind it, so it won’t be easy for them to maintain that copying style. And B, we understand that we can move the needle when needed and come up with new ideas nonstop, but that can only happen when we truly know our perspective on something and what it stands for.
Arguing with people about who is the greatest designer of all time? Your perspective will be the driving force in the conversation. Same goes for basketball, rap, even the best restaurant. Without perspective we are simply opinionless and visionless.