fuchsbau

Linchpin: Are you Indispensable?, Seth Godin

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• Substrat: draw a map and lead
  • every organisation needs a linchpin, the one person who can bring it together and make a difference
  • if you don't have more than a resumé, you've been brainwashed into compliance
• linchpin has 2 choices: 1) take advantage of cogs, 2) find boss who can't live without linchpin
  • linchpin: makes map; accurately sees truth; makes things happen; does work that doesn't get done; linchpin task manual not possible; doesn't need authority (people follow anyways); always moving
  • linchpin behaviour: unique interface in network, deliver unique creativity, manage complex organisation, lead customers, inspire staff, provide deep domain knowledge, possess unique talent
• training ground to become linchpin
  • you've been brainwashed to think your job is to do your job & follow instructions
    • understanding that your job is to make things happen changes what you do all day
    • chief excuse to overcome: "people will laugh at me"
    • real artists ship (requires thrashing early)
    • a tourist may have technical skill, but if she doesn't know the territory the skill isn't worthwhile
    • go into uncomfortable situations (we exaggerate how uncomfortable we are)
    • discipline yourself to generate ideas (most will be bad)
  • many people interact as though they are in charge of teaching people a lesson
  • when you meet someone, know your superpower (or you're just another handshake)
  • interacting with customers/employees often easier than influencing bosses/investors; over time you create environment & people above will notice
    • create moments where your boss can happily take credit
    • there's a difference between the right answer and the answer you can sell
  • managers & investors seek out employees with discernment (ability to see things as they truly are)
    • 2 reasons seeing truth is hard: attachment to outcome & fear of change
  • difference between cogs and linchpins largely one of attitude (not learning)
    • old-school thinking says "pay me", artists say "here"
    • raising the bar is easier than it looks
  • if you can't be remarkable, pershaps you should consider doing nothing until you can
• majority maybe compliant, but stars don't follow rules
• too-impossible-to-imagine school: "We teach people to take initiative and become remarkable artists, to question the status quo, and to interact with transparency. And our graduates understand that consumption is not the answer to social problems."
  • 2 things they should teach in school: solve interesting problems, lead
  • free great teachers from tests/reports/busywork, expel lousy teachers
• you need platform that turns insights into movement; work on platform every day
• whoever earns dramatic success always does it in markets where asymptotes don't exist
• author Richard Florida polled 20 k creatives for work factors that motivate them: 1) challenge & responsibility, 2) flexibility, 3) stable work environment, 4) money, 5) professional development, ...
• "A day's work for a day's pay. I hate this approach to life. It cheapens us."
• "Nine women can't have a baby in one month, no matter how closely they coordinate their work."
• "I don't go to meetings. I don't write memos. I don't have a staff. I don't commute. The goal is to strip away anything that looks productive but doesn't involve shipping."
• "(...) the president of the company told me that he had canceled the project. (...) I went to my office and spent the next twenty hours rewriting every word of text, redesigning every package, rebuilding every schedule, and inventing a new promotional strategy. It was probably six weeks of work for a motivated committee, and I did it (alone) in one swoop. (...) The board saw the finished work, reconsidered, and the project was back on again."