In his blog, Dave Thomas of pragmatic programmer fame writes about how his inexperience in publishing actually helped him again a completive advantage. When Dave and his partner Andy started publishing books they realized that they needed a process they applied the one that they were familiar with, the processes they used when developing software.

Dave starts the entry with a summary of how Toyota changed the auto manufacturing industry and how Detroit tried to copy them. Detroit was not as successful as Toyota because all they come back from Japan was a set of superficial observations.

"the car companies replicated what they saw Toyota doing, but only on the surface. They didn’t really understand what was behind these practices. It was like trying to become an artist by copying the angle and velocity of the brush held by a master.

Dave continues his story by telling you what he and Andy have done that Dave believes has brought them success. It would seem that other publishers also believe that these things have brought Dave success and they are putting their beliefs to the test by imitating the Pragmatic publisher’s practices. If the Toyota story has any merits to it, they will have a hard time matching Dave and Andy’s success. Certianly there is more than process going on behind the scenes.