Archive for October 2010
27
Building a Better Mousetrap
2 Comments | Posted by mindby in Product Management, Technology Adoption
“Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
Is there any more familiar quotation related to innovation? I doubt it. However, “build a better mousetrap” was actually a misquotation. What Emerson really said was…
“If a man has good corn or wood, or boards, or pigs, to sell, or can make better chairs or knives, crucibles or church organs, than anybody else, you will find a broad hard-beaten road to his house, though it be in the woods.”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
So there you have it. The original quotation wasn’t about innovation at all. It was about quality.
The thing that strikes me most about this quote is the last bit about “though it be in the woods”. I think the implication here is clear. You may not be a marketing genius or have the best location but if you build quality products that people need and want and you can get people sharing their experiences with your product, you’ve got yourself a winner. (more…)
