Book Byte #26 "Linchpin" by Seth Godin
Jason Ziebarth
Founder of Club255 — Helping thousands of STEM Professionals Connect with Each Other, Build their Career and Defeat their Inner Critic.
Are you Indispensable?
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?? Curious Quote from the Author:
“The job is what you do when you are told what to do. The job is showing up at the factory, following instructions, meeting spec, and being managed. Someone can always do your job a little better or faster or cheaper than you can. The job might be difficult, it might require skill, but it's a job. Your art is what you do when no one can tell you exactly how to do it. Your art is the act of taking personal responsibility, challenging the status quo, and changing people. I call the process of doing your art 'the work.' It's possible to have a job and do the work, too. In fact, that's how you become a linchpin. The job is not the work.”
“Art is a personal gift that changes the recipient. The medium doesn't matter. The intent does. Art is a personal act of courage, something one human does that creates change in another.”
“The secret to being wrong isn't to avoid being wrong! The secret is being willing to be wrong. The secret is realizing that wrong isn't fatal.”
“An artist is someone who uses bravery, insight, creativity, and boldness to challenge the status quo. And an artist takes it personally.”
“If you are deliberately trying to create a future that feels safe, you will willfully ignore the future that is likely.”
The lizard brain is the reason you're afraid, the reason you don't do all the art you can, the reason you don't ship when you can. The lizard brain is the source of the resistance.”
“Perhaps your challenge isn't finding a better project or a better boss. Perhaps you need to get in touch with what it means to feel passionate. People with passion look for ways to make things happen.”
“At the age of four, you were an artist. And at seven, you were a poet.”
“Here's the truth you have to wrestle with: the reason that art (writing, engaging, leading, all of it) is valuable is precisely why I can't tell you how to do it. If there were a map, there'd be no art, because art is the act of navigating without a map. Don't you hate that? I love that there's no map.”
“Transferring your passion to your job is far easier than finding a job that happens to match your passion.”
“If you need to conceal your true nature to get in the door, understand that you'll probably have to conceal your true nature to keep that job.”
“Discomfort brings engagement and change. Discomfort means you're doing something that others were unlikely to do, because they're hiding out in the comfortable zone. When your uncomfortable actions lead to success, the organization rewards you and brings you back for more.”
“The tragedy is that society (your school, your boss, your government, your family) keeps drumming the genius part out. The problem is that our culture has engaged in a Faustian bargain, in which we trade our genius and artistry for apparent stability.”
“...treasure what it means to do a day's work. It's our one and only chance to do something productive today, and it's certainly not available to someone merely because he is the high bidder. A day's work is your chance to do art, to create a gift, to do something that matters. As your work gets better and your art becomes more important, competition for your gifts will increase and you'll discover that you can be choosier about whom you give them to.”
“As our society gets more complex and our people get more complacent, the role of the jester is more vital than ever before. Please stop sitting around. We need you to make a ruckus.”
“Not only must you be an artist, must you be generous, and must you be able to see where you can help but you must also be aware. Aware of where your skills are welcomed.”
“...the greatest shortage in our society is an instinct to produce. To create solutions and hustle them out the door. To touch the humanity inside and connect to the humans in the marketplace.”
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“The combination of passion and art is what makes someone a linchpin.”
“Art is never defect-free. Things that are remarkable never meet spec, because that would make them standardized, not worth talking about.”
"Over 5 days Russell, and a host of elite entrepreneurs, will show you exactly how to build your first funnel. From idea to launch day, turn your motivation and passion into a business you’re proud of."
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?? Cognition of the Book’s Big Idea:
A lot of good content in this book. We all know those High Performers, we’ve seen them get promoted over us before. While we may at the time think it was because of luck or because they were buddies with the executives, in reality it doesn’t matter. If they go the job under nefarious means they are going to continue doing the job under nefarious means and it won’t work out for them in the long run. What’s important is your Art, the way you express you talents everyday. Even if it never goes noticed, it doesn’t matter. As long as you’re expressing your art and progressing your life, you win, period.
Make an obvious decision to become indispensable in whatever you love doing. No matter how much fear you feel or resistance you encounter, your need to create will never be stifle, in fact most of that resistance will fuel your inner passion. Don’t relegate your art to some white collar factory who doesn’t care about anything other than their balance sheet. Take a chance on yourself for once instead of the 350 chances each year you waste on your company and a decent living salary.
Starving Artists don’t ship. They don’t get everything out and let it be accepted due to fear, unfamiliarity or both. Gift all that you have created so it can become valuable, as Art shared is better than Art hidden under a bushel.
???Fixing the Tech Industry
There are High Performers, there are Low Performers and there are middle ones too. Even ourselves can be classified from time to time across the spectrum given our particular satisfaction with our job at the time. Choosing to become a Linchpin is a great way to make sure you have an awesome Career, however, it’ll never be easy. Easy is for people who want to coast through life never making more than 70k/yr. Find the fun in your current job, a way to make your art. If you can’t go find something worth your while. The only one stopping you is you.
?? Collaborate with others with this Social Media Prompt:
How can we become Linchpins in every aspect of our lives? With our Family? With our Friends? With our Spouses? Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dyin’! Sharing your story for others on social media is a great start to becoming a Linchpin!
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