Do you know who Tyler Durden is?

(hint: Brad Pitt played him in Fight Club).

Lateral Action posted Tyler Durden’s 8 Rules of Innovation recently (hat tip to Ma.tt).  Surprisingly, they make a lot of sense.

If I had to pick a favorite, it’d be:

Sticking feathers up your butt doesn’t make you a chicken.

Wow….I just typed “butt”.  Ok…moving on.

This rule is described as:

wearing black hipster clothing and hanging in cafes smoking Gaulloises cigarettes does not make you creative. Buying a MacBook Pro and an iPhone doesn’t get it done either.

Creativity and innovation are mainly about hard work. It’s about constantly coming up with ideas and thinking through problems instead of vegging out. And it’s about taking action, plain and simple.

This ‘rule’ gets at the heart of what’s wrong with so many things in business and life.

Stop trying to ‘be’ your competitor and start being yourself.   Do what’s best for your organization and your team.  Create advantage by playing on the strengths of your teams, technology and people.

In short: Be yourself.  Do what’s right for your organization and people.  Don’t imitate…Innovate.