First Impressions of Linchpin by Seth Godin

I was one of the lucky early few that signed up by making a donation to the Acumen Fund, to get an advanced copy of Linchpin by  Seth Godin.

Seth has asked people to read it, think about it and give a thoughtful review.  I couldn’t wait to tell you about it until I finished the book- I’ve found myself quoting concepts in the first few chapters to friends  already, so I thought it was time to share.

Seth starts out the book by talking about how the old American dream and template we’ve all been fed is history.  There are tons of people who still believe all you have to do is follow the rules and you’ll get a job where you then follow the rules and get rewarded.  But the bottom line that many folks are finding out is that following the rules has ended up being a sucker’s deal, a bait and switch bargain.  The safety and security of jobs and pensions and retirement at a reasonable age, in reasonable health, where you enjoy a permanent vacation until you die is history, and we just have to accept that.  It sounds harsh, but I think we all know that’s true.

As someone with young kids, I know I have to prepare them for a very different world than the one I grew up in, and  that is both scary and challenging.  They’re going to need flexibility, maintain those qualities of being curious, being creative and innovative problem solvers for the rest of their lives.  With schools still programmed, in many sectors, to produce widgets for giant “work”  machines, how can I counteract this effectively?  Certainly, my kids are growing up exposed to innovative thinkers making their own game every day, but I know I still have to find more opportunities for them to flex these muscles on their own now, so they are willing to do so as they get older as well.

Seth encourages all of us to be creative, to be artists, to become remarkable and indispensable.  I wanted to find an exception to this rule, but I found I can’t.  At first, I thought- well, you know the professions- Doctors, Lawyers- we need those folks to make everything else work- how much real creativity do you have as a physician?  Well, and then I took a closer look at what my husband does every day.  Sure, he’s an OB-GYN, but he’s involved with research, working on projects including looking at fetal growth curves, how they can eventually eliminate prematurity, and other projects that at the heart of them require this creative problem solver mentality.  He has to take everything he knows, figure out the problems that are still there, that cause problems big and small every day, and design research protocols to try to make them better, so each patient coming through his clinic gets the best care possible.  It means getting the doctors and nurses and patients in the practice to consider different schedules, to try new clinics like “birth control before breakfast” and step out of their own comfort zones and potential myopia.  He has to ask people to try to do things differently and make a difference- not just by bringing new people into the world (which is pretty amazing in and of itself) but to be able to do so in a constantly changing environment, with financial pressures, with each patient having their own unique set of problems, and being able to improvise on the fly.  The best doctors do this well, and do become linchpins, not only to their patients, but to their colleagues and institutions where they practice.

I wanted to find some exception to Seth’s rule, being a believer that education and formal college educations are not worthless, but have value beyond memorizing facts. I want to believe we do teach people things in school that matter and its not all about grinding creativity out of people.   But I think becoming a linchpin is not about whether you’ve had any formal training or education in anything- it’s ultimately about taking your cumulative knowledge and experience from every thing you have ever done, and be willing to use all of it, at any time, as tools to solve the next problem.

For example, I started reading Seth Godin and a bunch of books in the “business/management” section of the bookstore, not long after my husband introduced me to Marcus Buckingham and the Strength-based approach to, well, everything.  I rapidly found that all the books in the education and parenting section of the book store, where I frequently spent time, were missing the boat.  The really interesting stuff about managing people, developing them to reach their full potential, and the like were all sitting in the business section.  I realized that running a family is exactly like running a small business, and everything I knew had infinite applications outside of the box one might put them in.  “Pediatric logisitics”- managing kids/people, schedules, activities, performance (grades), camp, and keeping an eye on the larger issues at the same time are all the same skill sets I use in my business, in running Podcamps, in every other aspect of my life as well.

The main point here is this- you have to be a person who strives to make a difference in everything you do.  You have to care.  You need to look out for yourself, but you also can’t afford not to look out for others as well.  You need to be able to use all of your experience, no matter where it’s from, and weave it into a new solution to try and make a change for the better.  There are no more silos.  There are no more boxes.    It’s all about bringing all your resources to bear to try to solve problems big and small, and not being afraid of having a “crazy” idea.  Those crazy ideas in the hands fo the right people, shared with other people who care, mean all sorts of resources can be marshaled and then moving the needle becomes easier than ever.

Thanks, Seth, for the jolt of espresso to my creativity, and for reminding me how important it is to care .  Thanks for the reminder that we have  to be willing to try the “impossible” (which turns out only to be a bit difficult) and can be accomplished if we just try to see the possibilities rather than shut down because it seems risky or scary.

I look forward to the chapters to come.

Tags: creativity, education, linchpin, seth godin, taking risk

Swing for the Fences

Last year, my New year’s Resolutions were about getting over fear.  If there’s one thing I learned over the past year, it was to take some chances, and not dismiss the crazy idea too easily.  Here’s an example of what I did, and the results:

1. Wrote a few emails back and forth with Seth Godin.  He spoke with Hugh McLeod, and together they sponsored Podcamp NYC by contributing great bottles of Stormhoek wine. (Made me a convert to Stormhoek in the process as well.)

2.  I was lead organizer of Podcamp Philly, raised the money we needed plus a little extra, and put on a conference we were really proud of.   We managed to keep a local flavor to the event, and raised some money for Children’s Hospital of Philly while we were at it (Thanks, Drew!)  None of that would have been possible without a great team.

3.  I contacted and got to interview experts on learning disabilities for my podcast.  There were people on the list whose work I have long admired, including Sally Smith, Rick LaVoie, Dr. Tom Brown,  Dr. Perri Klass, Dr. Bob Brooks, Anne Ford,  Dr. Steve Graham,  and others- I feel truly lucky to have been able to talk to each of them.  If you want to learn about motivation, raising self-disciplined, self-reliant children, and how to support kids who are struggling with school, this is a group of experts to consult.  They are simply amazing people.

4.  Through Podcamp, I met an amazing group of people here in Philly and across the Country (and Canada) who’ve become really great friends and resources for any question I can come up with.  Whenever I have a really thorny question, this new social media circle will always throw out great ideas and new things to think about.

None of this would have happened if I never left the house, or wasn’t willing to take risks.

What do you gain by playing it safe? 

Playing it safe and conservative is important sometimes.  You should never gamble with your mortgage money or your kid’s college savings, for example. But other than that, why not swing for the fences every time?

If there’s someone you want to talk to, or exchange ideas with, why not track down an email or send a letter?  What is the worst thing that could happen?  It gets ignored.  And, then, you are in the same situation you are in at the present.  But if they answer the letter or email, your life may change for the better.  And even if they don’t answer, you know you tried and didn’t chicken out, which is great for your self-esteem.

I have a friend who is in retail sales.  Not a great business to be in, at the moment.  But if they don’t do something interesting and dramatic, the status quo won’t change.  So why not think about the wild and outlandish, the audacious ideas and suggestions, and actually go for it?

The downside is usually either 1) maintenance of the status quo if the risk fails or 2) finding out that even the outlandish won’t save your business, since after that, you will have pretty much reached the “I’ve tried everything” stage.  But I would argue even abject failure is preferable to coasting into oblivion.  I would rather go out with a bang.  Even if my hopes are dashed and smashed into the rocks, at least I gave it my all, and wasn’t playing with sweaty, nervous hands.  I can hold my head up high and walk away from a spectacular failure much easier than from something that was handled with indifference or too much caution and fear.

Letting go of fear and trying the big moves, the risky stuff, the putting yourself on the line, feels so much better, and gets better results than the small, conservative, no risk strategy.  So just once this year, when you find yourself afraid of something, of not feeling “worthy”, of shying away from a risk, give it a try instead.  Say “what the hell” and go for it.  I bet you’ll be happy you did.

Tags: overcoming fear, swing for the fences, taking risk