What If Plankton DID Get the Secret Recipe?

I love Spongebob Squarepants! Is it unprofessional to admit that? I don't care. It's an insanely hilarious cartoon. I don't have kids, but I still bought the box sets. If you are unfamiliar with this engaging program, the show is essentially about a sponge (Spongebob) and his interactions with all of his friends who live with him in the ocean. Spongebob works at a fast food restaurant called the Krusty Krab, owned by a crab named Mr. Krabs. The competitor, a tiny restaurant called the Chum Bucket, is owned by Mr. Krabs' arch-rival, a plankton named Plankton. The Chum Bucket can never get any business and Plankton is constantly attempting to steal the recipe for the Krabby Patty, the Krusty Krab's award-winning sandwich. His efforts, though, are always thwarted and Mr. Krabs emerges triumphant as the dominant fast food operator in Bikini Bottom.
I was watching an episode the other day in which Plankton got closer than he had ever gotten to getting the secret recipe for the Krabby Patty. They had me. I really thought that he would get it. As I was watching, the thought occurred to me, even if he had the recipe, would he be able to recreate it? What does a recipe consists of? Ingredients and directions. Anyone can replicate the ingredients if they are numerous enough. But the directions, that's where it gets tricky...

Beat vigorously. Spread gently. Stir evenly. Sprinkle lightly. The art lies in these adverbs. A recipe can be mimicked, but it cannot necessarily be recreated. Anyone can put the right ingredients in and in the right amounts but the way in which the ingredients are blended is the point of differentiation. Some people just know how to cook. It's not the recipe. It's them. It's what they add throughout the cooking process that makes it taste so great.

This post isn't about Krabby Patties. This post is about creating something meaningful and profitable in an age of commoditization. Due to the superfluity of technology and information, almost everything today can be copied. It's tough, therefore, to create something sustainably unique and profitable. There are no secret recipes left. Everyone can use what you are using and with the same measurements. How can you survive when you cannot differentiate?

But you can differentiate. Apple is different. Facebook is different. Amazon is different. Starbucks is different. But are they really? They are using the same inputs and formats as their competitors. Computer hardware. Social networks. Online retailing. Coffee beans. Yet, there is something distinct about the way they provide their offerings. Same recipes. Different cooks. Apple does computer hardware beautifully. Facebook does social networking masterfully. Amazon does online retailing seamlessly. Starbucks does coffee aromatically. The art--the differentiation--is in the adverbs. It's not in the brush. It's in the brushstrokes.

What business are you in? It doesn't matter. You can still differentiate! Let Plankton steal the recipe to your Krabby Patty because, try as he may, he will not be able to make it like you do. The art dies with the artist. No one can do what you do like you do it. You are the most essential ingredient in your recipe. Go out and prove it to the world. Refuse to be commoditized!