The Chux

File under Procrastinate

"The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese." – Business Coach Jon Hammond


In 1949, at the dawn of the Chemical Revolution, Johnson and Johnson introduced the Chux - the world’s first marketed disposable diaper. What? Never heard of them? Not surprising. They were relatively soon overshadowed and outsold by Proctor and Gamble’s Pampers. Were Pampers a better product? Maybe. Were they marketed better? Probably. Is Pampers a better name then Chux? Most certainly. Seriously, who was the marketing genius who came up with that?

In any case, Proctor and Gamble took an existing idea, its pros and cons, and improved upon it; and subsequently dominated the diaper market for many years. Why were they so successful? Why was being second to market better?

The idea that being second is better is explored in the book Fast Second: How Smart Companies Bypass Radical Innovation to Enter and Dominate New Markets by Constantinos Markides and Paul Geroski. They describe numerous instances where the second iteration was more successful, such as the Palm Pilot following an Apple hand held device that no one remembers. I think Apple got their revenge, however. The book gets lost in business strategy but the lesson applies to our everyday lives.


These successful companies were able to clearly see the situation, the pitfalls, the benefits, and then make informed actions in their favor. Procrastinating, waiting, and allowing the picture to evolve benefits us in our decisions too. Waiting until the second year to buy a new car model; giving the last presentation in class after others have gone before you; or waiting for other’s to figure out the new work reporting requirement are all ways we reduce our effort and build on the successes of others.

The Daily Antidote
Find opportunities to exploit other people’s hard work instead of expending your own.

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