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Thought Leaders Unpacked -> What the Dog Saw #10: Something Borrowed

thought-leadersWhen is stealing not stealing? What belongs to everyone even though a particular someone is the creator?

For those of us who trade in words, believe in the power of words, and watch lives change on the turn of a phrase, it’s an important question.

What-the-Dog-SawThis week’s chapter out of What the Dog Saw, wasn’t so much a mind-bending eye-opener for me as it was a thoughtful reflection on creativity, the propagation of ideas, and ownership rights for those who write.

Continuing to stir in my mind is the inherent conflict between creating/owning an idea, which seeks to exclude everyone else; and propagating/influencing others with your ideas, which seeks to include everyone else.

We both want our ideas to take hold on as wide a basis a possible, and we want to benefit ourselves from the recognition and revenue that their value earns.

Keep it to ourselves where we keep control, or get it out there where we lose control?

Copyright  laws are intended to give us a way to hold both extremes in tension. With the explosion of information and content on the internet, creativity, ownership and the value of content is getting more and more difficult to distinguish.

To which end of the spectrum do you lean? Tightly control your content or disseminate it widely? What was you main take-away from this chapter?

Each Friday I post my reflections from one chapter of What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell. If you are just joining the discussion now, welcome! Catch up on the entire series here.


Here's My Thought...


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