I wish I thought that. I’ve a project now that I want to do more than anything but it has been done somewhere else before and that is killing me. One of the people backing me points out that it’s also been done in Paris and Vienna and doubtlessly America too so it’s not like I’d be stealing from this particular somewhere else.

You know how when something is on your mind, it’s like the world or at least the internet seems to gather relevant stuff and throw it at you? Usually when you’re trying to avoid thinking about it. But sometimes when you need it too. So today I found this:

Just about every successful initiative and project starts from a place of replication. The chances of being fundamentally out of the box over the top omg original are close to being zero.

A better question to ask is, “have you ever done this before?” Or perhaps, “are the people you are seeking to serve going to be bored by this?”

Originality is local. The internet destroys, at some level, the idea of local, so sure, if we look hard enough we’ll find that turn of a phrase or that unique concept or that app, somewhere else.

But no one is asking you to be original. We’re asking you to be generous and brave and to matter. We’re asking you to step up and take responsibility for the work you do, and to add more value than a mere cut and paste. Give credit, definitely, but reject vemödalen.

Of Course It’s Been Done Before – Seth Godin (18 November 2014)

Find out a touch more – including what vemödalen means – in the full piece.