I had a dream last night in which--literally--everybody was Kung fu fighting.

I was like Jackie Chan, except really slow and REALLY clumsy.

The song, Kung Fu Fighting, by Carl Douglas, is an interesting case study in weird one-offs.

According to Wikipedia, the song was recorded in two takes, taking about 10 minutes of studio time. It was an afterthought; meant to be the B-side of a single.

It ultimately sold 11 million copies.

It outsold singles by Brittany Spears (...Baby One More Time), Elvis Presley (Hound Dog), Procol Harum (A Whiter Shade of Pale), The Monkees (I'm a Believer), and ABBA (Fernando), all of which sold around 10 million copies.

Pretty good for a one-off!

I like the book Blue Ocean Strategy a lot because it’s trying to help innovators break out of the one-off problem. Meaning, the lack of repeatability in the innovation process.

I particularly enjoy the case studies the authors include in their books and periodically publish on their site.

They just published a new one, and I think it’s worth a read: https://www.blueoceanstrategy.com/blog/how-thailand-created-multi-billion-dollar-blue-ocean-in-medical-tourism/

-P