Imitation
Notes
Imitation is the process where we internalize other's behaviors, reasons and mental models. Imitation can happen in many levels, from the most basic where we copy without understanding why, to try to replicate processes in different environments Transferred Learning.
This is similar to the concept of best practice. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, we look at what already works, and start from there. Learning from others can be a form of Multiplier because it helps us be more efficient.
Imitation can be perceived as an attempt to look at the positive, rather than the negative. To look for what works, instead of trying to think why it won't. However, we have to be careful not to fall for Survivors Bias, associating irrelevant qualities as essential for success just because we didn't look at those who failed.
Imitation is related to creativity because everything we do is a continuation of humanities knowledge. Creating something new "out of thin air" is not only highly unlikely, but more often than not it will be a lesser version of what already exists Remixing. There is a certain limit to what one person can accomplish by themselves, we can't be everywhere all at once. That is why using others, their knowledge, their research and experience can help us improve greatly, because they can serve as an extension to our knowledge, saving valuable time or even providing knowledge that was otherwise inaccessible peer support.
Imitating from a far won't get us very far. To really understand something we will likely need a Mentor to show us the right path, to give us experience knowledge that is difficult to transfer in a virtual settings.
Useful imitation requires:
- Know who to listen to - in any field there are probably dozens of ways of doing the same thing. We need to learn how to filter out the Noise by finding the relevant experts
- Distill the ideas - each practice should be distilled to it's core idea, so that it could be useful in your specific situation, and better yet - in other settings
- Make it your own - By imitating someone else completely, you will be second best at most. Also, what works for others not necessarily work for you, at least not exactly the same way because every person is different. We each have different skills, different ways of thinking. That's why you have to take Ownership and make it you own, add your unique twist, adjust it to your circumstances.
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Overview
🔼Topic:: Creativity (MOC) ↩️Origin:: 🔗Link::