Every so often there will appear a strange symmetry to the books and articles that I read. One such parallel which I found when reading Jo Owen and Joseph Campbell on the same day appears below.
I have encountered many other quotes which cover a very similar ground - but since both of these appeared at the same time and at a relevant moment I thought I'd include them here.
Business should stop playing to each other people's rules. following competition means we will never catch them. Adopting fads and seeking excellence provide the solution to someone else's problem. The challenge for management is to compete by playing a game where they make the rules. To do this is not about seeking instant answers: it is about knowing the right questions to ask about the customers, competition and the industry. Only the right questions lead to the right answers.
Hardcore Management by Jo Owen
You enter the forest at the darkest point, where there is no path.
Where there is a way or path, it is someone else's path.
You are not on your own path.
If you follow someone else's way, you are not going to realize your potential.
Joseph Campbell quoted in "A Joseph Campbell Companion"
