Yesterday, I shared about how it’s better to be different than to be the best.

Don’t take it from me. Take it from the smartest man of all time – Sherlock Holmes!

In the series titled ‘Sherlock’, Benedict Cumberbatch plays the protagonist who is just about to regale his flatmate and future deputy, John Watson, with his science of deduction in Season 1, Episode 1.

The famous scene in the London cab goes:

John: Who are you? What do you do?

Sherlock: What do you think?

John: I’d say private detective…

Sherlock: But…

John: But the police don’t go to private detectives.

Sherlock: I’m a consulting detective. The only one in the world. I invented the job.

John: What does that mean?

Sherlock: It means whenever the police are out of their depth – which is always – they consult me.

Even Sherlock realized that his best bet was to be the only fish in a new pond than be the biggest fish in a crowded pond. 

So Sherlock was prepared to design a new category of detectives and remain unique.