Seth asked his readers to spread this message to save on bandwidth. I’m spreading it for that reason and because when Seth speaks I listen. I think you should too.
Seth Godin’s 45-minute “Linchpin” talk
Things Seth talks about in this 45-minute talk:
Economics
- Why we have jobs
- Charts of happiness by culture
- Why debt was created
- Debt leads to compliance
- What school teaches us
- The most important lesson we learn in school
- “You’re not as good as you think you are.” (Seth didn’t say that)
- Six reasons why it’s hard for linchpins to be linchpins
1. Linchpins don’t understand what’s at stake.
2. Capitalist systems don’t include the idea of “generosity”
3. Recognize that anyone can do this. The lizard brain says you can’t do it.
4. Acknowledge the lizard brain (“the resistance”). The lizard brain is real and it always feels the same
5. It’s hard work. Pros do the work because they take it seriously.
6. Shipping. Making the product, hitting send or publish. Revisions don’t count.
– Reasons not to ship
1. Fear
2. Prajna – Don’t see the situation clearly or understand the world as it is.
3. Not enough skill to do it well. (We all focus on this one)
- “If you give some people a mile, they’ll take an inch.”
- Less is safer
Joy
- Is there anything wrong with getting paid to do something you love?
- Is there enough money to pay you to not do what you love?
- We sacrifice our art for money all the time.
- Spike Lee lowered his need for money so he could do his art
- Either you break rules or you follow rules – there is no middle ground
- Break rules or follow rules – that’s why I wrote the book
- If you race to the top and don’t make it that’s OK, you’re closer to the top
- Honest Signals
- Everyone wants the path to success – Writing or art…they all want a map
- You don’t win any prizes for making the seventh version of Twitter
- The “knowing-doing gap”
- It is not OK to be afraid of certain things
- Leadership is demanding change
- Every 30-90 days you have to move your desk
- “If you don’t fail soon, you’re fired.” – Seth to one of his best employees
- Every product that ships late ships late for the SAME reason – Thrashing
- Thrash at the beginning
- Manage or Run a project – they’re different
- This sounds really hard. “So?”
- I have no plans to write another book
- Some of us will use social media for good, some will waste their time
