“Your idea needs to be original only in its adaptation to the problem you are currently working on.” — Thomas Edison

The simplest way to solve a problem is to borrow an existing idea. Military designers borrowed Picasso’s art to create better camouflage patterns and tanks.

After working with owner-entrepreneurs for 40 years, management consultant guru Peter Drucker said, “The myth is that an owner-entrepreneur can depend on a flash of genius.” The ones who depend on the flash of genius will also go out like one. King Solomon, recognizedby many as the wisest man to ever live wrote, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”

The Bottom Line: Leaders solve problems by borrowing and adapting proven solutions.