Great Artists Steal
The biggest heist in the history of the computer industry came from Xerox PARC. The Xerox executives failed to see what their scientists created. They didn't execute on it. They created the modern graphical interface. It would have let them own the whole computer industry had they capitalized correctly. Steve Jobs twisted about this moment was pride. He would quote Pablo Picasso saying "good artists copy, great artists steal." After seeing the interface he knew Xerox didn't do it right. It was still clunky. The mouse control and windows could not be easily moved around. Apple could do it better. Jobs and his engineers did do it better. It's what made the Macintosh such a hit. Good execution isn’t just as important as a good idea. Xerox launched the first one and Apple stole the credit.