Why Following Someone Else's Success Can Lead to Your Failure

While it's natural to learn from other successful organizations, simply replicating their strategies may not always work in your context. This is exemplified by 3M's 15% rule, which has helped the company succeed, but often fails when replicated by other organizations. Contextual differences and the undersampling of failure, where we only learn from successful outcomes, contribute to this. Timing can also play a major role, as older strategies may be irrelevant in today’s fast-moving world. To achieve true innovation success, it's important to be skeptical and consider if a strategy is right for you and your business at the present time.