I have become a fan of Seth Godin, not because he is a genius, but because he gets off his duff and does something. Or says something, as it were. In his words, he 'ships'. A lot.
With that marginal fandom in tow, I eagerly picked up Linchpin (Do You Zoom, Inc, 2010) hoping for some of that good old-fashioned how-to to get me off my own duff. And ship.
One chapter sticks out, and I shared it with my students. 'Becoming the Linchpin' is great advice for young people about to stick their necks out into the workforce. Advice on how to get a great job, whether or not you need a resume, and even how to make the Olympic ski team are found therein. The rest of the book, it seemed to me, was a lot of repetition, and I am one who gets things after they have been said once. Maybe twice. Three times a lady? Four, five, six ... you get my point.
The problem with Linchpin, and I don't fault Mr. Godin so much for this, is publishing. Authors get caught in the cycle of publishing or risk becoming irrelevant or the last best thing. No one wants to be the last best thing, so they publish, they pad, the shore up the edges, put a little whipped sugar on top and send it to press.
At least he ships, might go the argument. But in so many words it was too many words.
I favor the 37signals approach. When they set out to publish Getting Real (37signals, 2009), they did it on their terms, and published more of a pamphlet than the requisite 200-page hardbound book. The result is a succinct and direct set of short essays on how to ship. No filler. No meetings about the meetings. They wrote it, published it, moved on.
What's more, it's free. Not that it's the determining factor for reading, but Mr. Godin talks about gifts, given just because, and 37signals delivers them.
To end there might be unfair, but I shall, because I have other things to 'ship' and miles to go before I sleep.
With that marginal fandom in tow, I eagerly picked up Linchpin (Do You Zoom, Inc, 2010) hoping for some of that good old-fashioned how-to to get me off my own duff. And ship.
One chapter sticks out, and I shared it with my students. 'Becoming the Linchpin' is great advice for young people about to stick their necks out into the workforce. Advice on how to get a great job, whether or not you need a resume, and even how to make the Olympic ski team are found therein. The rest of the book, it seemed to me, was a lot of repetition, and I am one who gets things after they have been said once. Maybe twice. Three times a lady? Four, five, six ... you get my point.
The problem with Linchpin, and I don't fault Mr. Godin so much for this, is publishing. Authors get caught in the cycle of publishing or risk becoming irrelevant or the last best thing. No one wants to be the last best thing, so they publish, they pad, the shore up the edges, put a little whipped sugar on top and send it to press.
At least he ships, might go the argument. But in so many words it was too many words.
I favor the 37signals approach. When they set out to publish Getting Real (37signals, 2009), they did it on their terms, and published more of a pamphlet than the requisite 200-page hardbound book. The result is a succinct and direct set of short essays on how to ship. No filler. No meetings about the meetings. They wrote it, published it, moved on.
What's more, it's free. Not that it's the determining factor for reading, but Mr. Godin talks about gifts, given just because, and 37signals delivers them.
To end there might be unfair, but I shall, because I have other things to 'ship' and miles to go before I sleep.
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