I keep coming back to a simple question. If we want children to have the courage to think for themselves, what example are we setting in the industry that creates their learning environments?
We ask young people to be curious. To question what is in front of them. To try something that might not work, and then try again. We tell them their ideas matter.
I believe they do. And I believe that puts a responsibility on us.
There is a person behind every original idea.
After more than 30 years in this industry, I know that a finished product tells only a small part of its story. It doesn’t show the early sketches, the prototypes that fell short, or the difficult decision to put more time and money into an idea because you still believe it could help someone.
Developing something new asks a lot of people. It takes imagination, patience and the willingness to risk getting it wrong. Often, it takes a team who can see a possibility long before anyone else can see a product.
That is why conversations about copying can feel so personal. Behind the commercial concern is a human one: someone made the effort to create something, and that effort deserves to be recognised.
Over recent weeks, concerns raised through our dealer network led me to speak with friends and colleagues across education furniture and technology. I heard familiar frustrations from people who had invested in original work and felt that others were benefiting from close imitations.
Those conversations stayed with me. They also pushed me to look beyond our own business and ask what kind of industry we want to build together.
The spaces we create carry our values.
A school is more than a collection of rooms and products. The way it is designed can give children room to explore, make choices, work together and discover that there is more than one way to solve a problem.
Architects, designers and educators understand the care that goes into those decisions. A place to retreat. A different working height. Space to move. A setting that helps a child feel included. These details begin with someone paying attention and asking how things could be better.
“Because the environments we create for children should reflect the values we want them to learn.”
For me, that is the heart of this. When we value original thinking in the classroom, we should value it in the work that makes that classroom possible.
Children may never know who designed the table they use or the space where they feel comfortable learning. But the culture behind those things matters. An industry that respects creativity gives people a reason to keep creating.
Let’s give the next idea a chance.
Healthy competition gives us reasons to improve. I want an industry full of different approaches, fresh voices and better solutions. Respect for original work belongs at the centre of that ambition.
Questions about copying deserve care, evidence and a fair opportunity for everyone involved to respond. Products can look similar for different reasons. We need the integrity to examine a concern properly, as well as the conviction to take originality seriously.
That shared responsibility is why we established the Education Design & Innovation Council. EDIC brings people together to champion original design, build understanding of intellectual property and encourage responsible innovation across education furniture and technology.
My hope is that designers feel encouraged to take the next creative risk. That manufacturers feel confident investing in development. That architects and educators can choose products with a better understanding of the thinking behind them.
And that, as an industry, we live up to the encouragement we give children every day.
Be curious. Have an idea of your own. Make something that matters.
We should be willing to do the same.