First-Ism

Frans Charming (yes, the international superstar) pointed out a post that Eric Rice wrote about First-Ism. It was a very timely post for me as I am dealing with a few issues of being in situations that border on firsts (with the proper slant of course :) . I am staying vague here as to not expose the situations so, I ask you not to speculate, it is irrelevant).  


Let’s first look at some motivations for being first:



  • Ego- Seth Godin calls them sneezers, others tastemakers. I supposed there is a certain personal satisfaction knowing that you created or uncovered something and spread the word. Sure, this may be rooted in ego but ego is not always bad (it is just bad most of the time :)  ). I know many people who always have to be the first to own the latest (fill in the blank) and if they are not, they won’t even consider X for ownership.

  • Notoriety- The First may not be the best but often it is the most notable

  • Security- No one will ever win the debate about the laurels of being first to market. Sometimes it is good, sometimes not.


(this results in a lovely acronym ENS…pretty deep)



Rice writes this:



I’ll be able to get more stuff done by waiting, watching the first bugs come out. You’ll get it first, and in several months, we’ll all be in the same place, looking at the future. Was it worth it?




Perhaps we will all be in the same place but the deciding factor may not be the fact that you were first.


First to market can be best if done well. Second to market has the ability to learn from the first and surpass it. Who know what the correct strategy is? I guess it must be taken case by case. What Eric appears to take issue with is the fact that people aim to be first for the sake of being first. What do I say to what he appears to be taking arms against, right on buddy (can I call a fellow blogger a buddy just because I agree with him and we do not know each other, I think so)!



My bottom line; go ahead, be first. Be first at everything you do if that is what your gut tells you, but be calculated. Make sure it is the right move. Don’t be first for the sake of being first.


I on the other hand will, 98% of the time be with Eric waiting to be best (the reason I say 98% is that sometimes mania overcomes me and I can see justifying first-ism if the cost benefit analysis seems favorable).


In light of all this I am going to do a better job of aiming to be best 100% of the time. Sometime it may legitimately mean being first (after all, they don’t give gold medals to the person that runs best…irrelevant metaphor, I realize this…irrelevance is my blogging style. My loyal readers can attest to that).


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