Precedent has caused many failures. We refuse to make a bold move and
inaugurate a new system because we hate to break away from the methods
established by successful predecessors.
We say "Let well enough alone." We forget that times change, and that
conditions which made our competitors successful, may not now exist.
If you have the precedent habit it is an admission that you have not
the brains to originate, and you are trying to take advantage of
another's brains.
You remember the old fable of the lion and the jackass. The jackass was
browsing on thistles in the desert. It took all his time to gather
enough of the scanty vegetation to keep him alive. One day the jackass
noticed the lion comfortably eating a lamb, whereupon he said "That's
the scheme for me. I will do the same trick as Mr. Lion," and
forth-with the jackass found a dead lion and covered himself with the
lion's skin, hoping that with the lion's skin he would appear as a lion
and thus be able to catch game in large portions, and relieve himself
of this slow monotonous, hard work he had been used to. The jackass
sallied forth, but he could not catch a lamb. He had copied the lion so
far as physical appearances were concerned, but he did not have the
brains of the lion, and he failed.
There are hundreds of wealthy business concerns today who are slowly
dying from dry rot because they have not the nerve to break away from
the precedent that built up their businesses. They let sentiment
outweigh common sense. They maintain the same old lines and follow the
same policy because that policy years before things made them
successful.
Many manufacturers continue to advertise in publications which have
long since lost their advertising value. These manufacturers have the
habit, and on account of precedent they are afraid to break away. They
do not recognize that since they started there are dozens of newer,
brighter and better publications than the ones they are using.
Columbus, Marconi, Edison, Stevenson, Newton, Fulton, and hundreds of
other originators would never have succeeded if they had followed
precedent. They required strong courage to break away from accepted
methods. Each of these men was told in so many words that the thing
never had been done, and consequently could not be done.
Business men who throw aside precedent are more apt to succeed, for by
throwing aside precedent they show they have originality instead of the
ability to copy.