A Problem-Solver's Guide to Copycatting

Fast Company, October 21, 2009 — Your business has a big problem. You've thought about it, but you can't seem to crack it. So you consult your colleagues — to no avail. Then you turn to the big guns — your industry's top experts. They've got nothing. (Well, to be precise, they've got 40 PowerPoint slides worth of nothing, and you've got $225,000 less of something.) Now what?