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Poke the Box

3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 · rating details · 2,852 ratings · 375 reviews

Book Description: If you're stuck at the starting line, you don't need more time or permission. You don’t need to wait for a boss’s okay or to be told to push the button; you just need to poke.

Poke the Box is a manifesto by bestselling author Seth Godin that just might make you uncomfortable. It’s a call to action about the initiative you’re taking-– in your job or in you...more Book Description: If you're stuck at the starting line, you don't need more time or permission. You don’t need to wait for a boss’s okay or to be told to push the button; you just need to poke.

Poke the Box is a manifesto by bestselling author Seth Godin that just might make you uncomfortable. It’s a call to action about the initiative you’re taking-– in your job or in your life. Godin knows that one of our scarcest resources is the spark of initiative in most organizations (and most careers)-– the person with the guts to say, “I want to start stuff.”

Poke the Box just may be the kick in the pants you need to shake up your life.

Love the ideas in Poke the Box? Check out our Domino Project page for other format options, such as a limited deluxe edition, which includes the book with a letterpress jacket, a specially designed signature plate signed by Godin, and a letterpress poster. Be sure to also visit TheDominoProject.com for the latest news and special offers.

A Q&A with Seth Godin

Question: What does it mean to Poke the Box?

Seth Godin: Conformity used to be crucial--fitting in, not standing out. Compliance used to be the heart of every successful organization, every successful career. The reason? We all worked for the system, in the factory, doing what we were told. Now, though, compliance is no longer a competitive advantage.

Poke the Box is about the spark that brings things to life. We need to be nudged away from conformity and toward ingenuity, toward answering unknown questions for ourselves. Even if we fail, as I have done many times in my life, we learn what not to do by experience and doing the new.

This isn’t the same thing as taking a risk. In fact, the riskiest thing we can do right now is nothing.

I’ve had an extraordinary run, creating a dozen nationwide bestsellers, starting Internet companies and giving speeches around the world. The key thing I bring to the projects I take on is not more talent than most (I don’t) or even more hours than most (hardly). My contribution is a willingness to poke, to start, to lean into the project and to get it out the door.

Question: What will I learn from reading Poke the Box?

Seth Godin: Hopefully you will learn lots but do more. Start thinking about when you’ve taken initiative in a way that really meant something to you and your team, your family. When was the last time you did something for the first time? How did it feel?

There are no step-by-step how-to instructions in Poke the Box. Instead, you’ll find a series of layers, a foundation for taking a different approach to your work. Instead of learning to be more compliant, I want to push you to be the one who takes initiative.

Question: Why did you write this book?

Seth Godin: I’ve been fortunate enough to hear from almost a million people over the years, to talk with CEOs and bosses and customers around the world. And they all tell me precisely the same thing: it’s the motive force they demand, the person who will shake things up and move them forward.

Static is not an acceptable state. The status quo is no longer something we want at work or in politics or in any organization we care about.

The market is just waiting for people to step forward. I wrote the book for those people, the ones who’ve been hesitating to take the leap.

Question: Why did you start The Domino Project?

Seth Godin: The Domino Project is my latest attempt at "poking." It’s an independent publishing imprint founded by me and powered by Amazon. This is an opportunity to publish "idea manifestos" committed to readers, rather than being bookstore friendly. It’s named after the domino effect--where one powerful idea spreads down the line, pushing from person to person.

I have two audacious goals: I want to change the people who read (not enough do) and I want to change the way books are published (they’re too hard to find and spread). I honestly believe that a book can change a mind like nothing else, and that’s our focus. To help anyone to do work they’re proud of and to make a difference.

Question: Why Amazon?

Seth Godin: I partnered with Amazon so we could leverage what we both do best--Amazon is the leader in global distribution, multiple format production capabilities, and reaching people in the right way, and I want to spread powerful ideas to the people who want to read them.

For 15 years, Amazon has been building an audience and gaining our trust. Many surveys identify them as the most-trusted new brand in the world. Now that Amazon is interacting with more people more often, they have a chance to bring those customers new ideas in innovative ways. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance to bring ideas worth spreading to a huge and eager audience.

Question: Who is Seth Godin?

Seth Godin: I’m an author, entrepreneur, and a person who starts things.

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Kindle Edition, 114 pages

Published (first published March 1st 2011)

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Jan 07, 2013 Megankellie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Megankellie by: The Internet

Shelves: existentialcrisis, motivation, writing

This guy totally had me until he pushed my personal buttons.

Some Questions: Is the whole "if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all" rule some kind of a regional thing? When you add four beers to yourself and you go on and on about something you don't like, your very raw feelings--are you finally admitting honest feelings which you have repressed or have you been chemically altered into a beer-fueled asshole? When you die, will St. Peter make you openly admit your true...more This guy totally had me until he pushed my personal buttons.

Some Questions: Is the whole "if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all" rule some kind of a regional thing? When you add four beers to yourself and you go on and on about something you don't like, your very raw feelings--are you finally admitting honest feelings which you have repressed or have you been chemically altered into a beer-fueled asshole? When you die, will St. Peter make you openly admit your true feelings about everything? Is there a graph of Midwestern Netflix ratings vs. East Coast Netflix ratings?

I would politely say this is a really interesting book and you can really get fired up reading it. He has a good point and we should go for it. I felt very encouraged, and am actually completing a checklist instead of making a new one.

This is the first Seth Godin book I've ever read. I've spent probably six hours reading compliments and "OMG Seth Godin" articles. At least one hour reading "if you like me you would NOT BELIEVE Seth Godin." I have also watched interviews with him. So I was coming into it with a mind waiting to be bent and then unrecognizable and for my life to fork. I realized this wasn't going to happen and I don't think this is his main book that we should all read. I also just watched Eddie Izzard's "Believe" on Netflix which is a much more emotionally true representation of 10 years of disaster spent poking the box and the eventual payoff. Huge Expectations+Recently Experienced Emotional Truth=Go for a Walk.

Can we just say that business books are self-help books? Sometimes I felt like the older sister in the room watching my mom say "why can't you be more like your older sister?! SHE has tried and failed a million times and SHE's fine with it!!!" and then watching my younger sister writhe around in her room and feel terrible. I would like to take that little sister out for Dairy Queen and say "listen, mom was being harsh. Trying and failing is terrible and that's why I'm obese and in debt, I just didn't tell mom that part."

So I guess the main question is, do you believe in medieval demons? That ride through your vulnerabilities with a strict shame-pillage policy? That are merciless? If so, this book is sorta food for them. It's one long manifesto with little subheadings that sometimes make sense and sometimes don't.

My buttons are this: He said we have a moral obligation to treat people with respect and look them in the eye. He said SNL writers know that what they write during the week might be seen by a million people on the weekend. These are my buttons. By this rule, New York is an amoral city. It does not play by those rules unless you are isolated and rich and/or from there. Also I have worked too many horrible jobs--I once had an interview with the Provost's office of a large private school in New York City and was asked by the HR person, the recruiter, and a lawyer if it was okay if no one in the office "really, you know noticed you--they kind of act like you're not there hehehe--I mean, they don't say hi or anything like that. Is that a big deal?" The HR woman said quietly, afterwards "I wouldn't work for that guy. Honestly." Also, read any writer's account of SNL and it's fraught with competition and dread and getting fired and a few people who love it. Yes, poke the box.

To quote David Wong from cracked.com writing about women:
"But remember, there are two ways to dehumanize someone: by dismissing them, and by idolizing them."

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Apr 05, 2011 Cheree rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's difficult to argue with Seth Godin's logic. He is incredibly quotable, yet when you read him you have the nagging impression that he isn't saying anything you don't already know. This seems truer in this short, quick read than in any of his other books.

I don't think he would argue the point. In fact in Poke the Box, he basically says that very thing when encouraging the reader to do what you see needs to be done. We shouldn't have to say it. But if everyone knows it, then why aren't they do...more

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Mar 16, 2011 Brian rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Um, pretty empty...

Hm. I'll agree it's a rant. It has a manifesto feeling to it, but jeez, it really doesn't say much. I'll summarize:

* Let's adopt an inappropriate metaphor: a friend made a black box with switches and buzzers and such and gave it to his son, who poked at it. Poking the box = doing stuff even if you might fail. Uh, what?
* Okay, now let's encourage everyone to try stuff, embrace the possibility of failure, because otherwise, great things won't happen. Okay, cool.
* But that's abou...more

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Dec 22, 2011 Chris rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a fun little book, with catchy neologisms (‘unbrainwashing’) and turns of phrase (‘reject the tyranny of picked’) that markets well as a novelty. The title derives from a story about a father who designed a toy for a child that was respond with lights and sounds to manipulation and ‘poking’. Poke the Box is about the need to do something, better now than soon, to initiate change. It very much follows, without naming it, the Gandhi-principle, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”...more This was a fun little book, with catchy neologisms (‘unbrainwashing’) and turns of phrase (‘reject the tyranny of picked’) that markets well as a novelty. The title derives from a story about a father who designed a toy for a child that was respond with lights and sounds to manipulation and ‘poking’. Poke the Box is about the need to do something, better now than soon, to initiate change. It very much follows, without naming it, the Gandhi-principle, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” It’s about starting things, and taking responsibility to act and act first instead of blaming others or your environment for not moving.

I loved his formula, “ptb<0—poke! (If Poking The Box cost less than doing nothing, then Poke!) The idea here is that we risk too much by not trying. We are afraid of failure, but Godin’s cure is simple: become ‘promiscuous’ with your failures. “Failure is not fatal” and so we shouldn’t try so much to avoid it. He comes with examples of failure from his own life: failed record label, failed light bulb fundraising business, failed production of VHS aquarium, and many failed books. Yet these failures only prompted him to write more audaciously about failing, very nearly citing the key to success as failure itself. He believes there is nothing stopping a person from beginning a task in a spirit of success, for all true successes cannot be completely predicted from the beginning, and thus cannot be an end. Success is not an object, it is a mindset, and one can embark upon the path of success immediately, even in spite of failed projects.

The author seems to target the types of people who wait on others to pick them for a successful enterprises, but this only transfers any subsequent blame or praise onto the picker and not the picked. Godin advises, “Pick yourself” and start doing the things you always asked someone else for permission (protection) to do. There may be more work to do this way, but it is more rewarding and will better equip us to accomplish our goals.

The book is pretty much a rough digest of psychology for the businessman/-woman, and what science I detected in his writing seemed only a rephrasing of hearsay. The business argot on every page—stock motivation clichés and commerce terminology—started feeling like a slimy pitch. I laughed out loud when I read his attempt to become philosophical, “The essence of humanity is initiative.” What? Rubbish. How about love? Or struggle? Or sex? Or pain? Or happiness? Or…something! But initiative? It’s so completely random, except for the fact that it matches the theme of this book Godin is trying to sell. Convenient.

If you’re thinking about starting something new in your life, and you need motivation, there are some good thoughts in this short 90-page-ish work that might help. If not, an ‘unbrainwashing’ might be in order.
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Jan 28, 2012 Riku Sayuj rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviews

Half way through the book, I had decided that this book merits only a one sentence review: Seth Godin, surprisingly, turns out to be Mr. Obvious.

After finishing the book, I have realized that this would not be fair. I particularly liked the section on Intellectual Integrity and Seth's point that anyone not putting his ideas into the world is actually stealing them from the world and should be treated as such. Yes, every section in the book is repetitive and makes the same exhortation again an a...more

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Nov 25, 2011 Olivia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: psychology-philosophy

If you're looking for scientific statistical analysis for the recipe of success, the book is definitely not for you. This book is a manifesto that aims to rally people to start innovating that not only stops at ideation but goes all the way and takes risk to execute it and find out if it works or not.

This book is to encourage us to abandon our fear of 'this might not work' but to really find out if it works. This book is also for managers or organizations that adhere to 'failure free' policy an...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Tim Chaney rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I found this book very engaging and helpful. This is basically a call to go do something. And by doing something Godin specifically wants you to start something new. He is calling people to break out of the normal day to day processes and responsibility of their jobs and start new things.

His premise is that everyone has ideas and can contribute new things, they just need to be given permission and motivation to do so. Every office and corporation need people to "start stuff," who is that person...more

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Aug 27, 2011 Chris rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult, nonfiction, not-graphic

I define anxiety as experiencing failure in advance.

Godin’s slim “manifesto” on the idea of initiative is a rambling riff that suffers a bit from its stream-of-conscious delivery, lack of depth, and brevity, but the overall point is a good one and he has some good things to say. Mainly: Be willing to fail regularly and often, because if you’re constantly willing to start things instead of sitting back in fear you’ll experience plenty of successes along the way. It’s a mindset and a habit, and in...more I define anxiety as experiencing failure in advance.

Godin’s slim “manifesto” on the idea of initiative is a rambling riff that suffers a bit from its stream-of-conscious delivery, lack of depth, and brevity, but the overall point is a good one and he has some good things to say. Mainly: Be willing to fail regularly and often, because if you’re constantly willing to start things instead of sitting back in fear you’ll experience plenty of successes along the way. It’s a mindset and a habit, and in the end the successes will far outweigh the failures. Worth the hour I spent with it.

Outsized entrepreneurs are lionized daily. We’ve heard their names again and again--people (too often men) who started a business, started an organization, started a revolution. Good for them. But you don’t have to be Howard Schultz to be an initiator.

People have come to the erroneous conclusion that if they’re not willing to start something separate, world-changing, and risky, they have no business starting anything. Somehow, we’ve fooled ourselves into believing that the project has to have a name, a building, and a stock ticker symbol to matter.

In fact, people within organizations are perfectly situated to start something. The third person in the four-person inbound customer service team can do it. The receptionist can do it. The assistant foreman can do it.

The spark I’m talking about is simple to describe, but easy to avoid.

Is there someone struggling with a tray as she walks across the hospital cafeteria? You can stand up, walk over, and help her out. It’s not your job, it might not even be appreciated, but you can do it.

Is there a better way to answer the phone when angry customers call? You can try it out and then teach it to others.

Is there a noisy hinge that bothers everyone in the room? You can bring in some oil and fix it.

This is so obvious that it physically hurts me to type it.

If it’s so obvious, though, why doesn’t everyone do it?(less)

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Jul 11, 2011 Kate B rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hey look, I started a negative review! Look at me poking the box! In fact let me take even more initiative and tell you in one sentence what he wrings torturously into a 'book': successful people are the ones that aren't afraid to try something new and fail, repeatedly, so you should get off your ass and take initiative in all aspects of your life.

While I don't disagree with his thesis, Godin's book is dreadful to read. It's not a lengthy book by any stripe, but still ends up being way too long...more

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Jun 27, 2011 Calvin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: entrepreneurship

Seth Godin writes a manifesto in "Poke the Box" which exists to say primarily one thing: "Make something happen."

He focuses heavily on initiative, its relevance, and diagnosing many reasons people don't take initiative. He also discusses its importance in the economy.

So, if money and access and organizational might aren't the foundation of the connected economy, what is?

Initiative.

Godin wrote this manifest such that it's simple to read, easy to ingest, and full of quotable bites. At a length of...more

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May 16, 2011 Ryan Agrimson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: professional-texts

Poke the Box by Seth Godin is the kick in the butt everyone may need. Poke the Box encourages all minds to start up and go. It's good to have ideas, and it's even better to set those ideas into fruition. Godin mentions that one of the largest contributors to holding people back from great things is FEAR. Fear to offend others. Fear of being uncomfortable. Fear of failure. Fear of rejection. He makes a compelling point that this may happen, and the better you are, the more it will happen. Not nec...more

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Apr 27, 2011 Janette Fuller rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: social-media

Seth Godin has written a book that will challenge you to start...initiate...begin...GO!
This is a manifesto about starting. Starting a project, making a ruckus, taking what feels like a risk.
This is not a book about thinking about it or making a plan.
It is about going beyond the point of no return...leaping...committing...making something happen.
This book is about having the guts and the heart and the passion to ship. The challenge is getting into the habit of starting. The desire to move for...more Seth Godin has written a book that will challenge you to start...initiate...begin...GO!
This is a manifesto about starting. Starting a project, making a ruckus, taking what feels like a risk.
This is not a book about thinking about it or making a plan.
It is about going beyond the point of no return...leaping...committing...making something happen.
This book is about having the guts and the heart and the passion to ship. The challenge is getting into the habit of starting. The desire to move forward.

Mr. Godin puts it this way in his book;
"Imagine that the world had no middlemen, no publishers, no bosses, no HR folks, no one telling you what you couldn't do.
If you lived in that world, what would you do?
Go. Do that."

Mr. Godin believes the fear of failure is the reason many people hold back and hesitate to start a new endeavor. It might be only a temporary failure, but that doesn't matter so much if the very thought of it shuts you down. Risk is avoided becuase we have been trained to avoid failure. Many people are stuck with the status quo because they are afraid to make any kind of change.

The author believes that avoiding failure is counterproductive. We will learn from our failures. All great people in history have learned from their failures and moved forward. The more you do, the more you fail.

It is time to take the initiative to do work you decide is worth doing. What is your calling? There are no instructions or lists. Mr. Godin is very passionate when he says;
"Please stop waiting for a map.
We reward those who draw maps, not those who follow them."

This book is a call to action. It should be a kick in the pants to all who are waiting, planning, hesitating and evaluating. The time to get started is now. Poking doesn't mean right. It means ACTION. And remember, starting means you're going to finish. If it doesn't ship, you've failed. You haven't poked the box if the box doesn't realize it's been poked.
Will you poke the box? Will you change your way of thinking to allow yourself to take a risk? (less)

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Mar 29, 2011 Guilherme Nunes rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: personal-developement, marketing, entrepreneurship

A whole book on the old principle/trait: bias for action....

I listened to the audiobook since I know it would happen the same thing as with Linchpin (His last book) if I would read it... i wouldnt finish....

Certainly better, in my opinion than Linchpin, about the same topic tough....

I also compare it with tribes because its messy and about something we all know....

Other books like purple cow, all marketers are liars from Godin were far more structured (even if still messy but thats just his styl...more

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Mar 15, 2011 Guy Gonzalez rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle-books-to-lend, my-ebooks, self-published

Poke the Box should have been titled Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us - The Remix as Godin brings nothing new to the table other than a relationship with Amazon and some promotional pricing gimmicks. It's his usual mix of paper-thin insights and exhortations to be bold! to lead! to ship! -- but with notably less energy or conviction than usual, as if he wrote it in between blog posts over a rare quiet weekend.

I pre-ordered the Kindle version for $1 and read it in a total of about 2 hours, and woul...more

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Mar 10, 2011 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction-business, non-fiction-self-help

POKE THE BOX is mainly for entrepreneurs (both social and business), but since the author claims: "This is a Manifesto about Starting," it could also be a book about Life. It features Seth Godin's hallmark style of taking every day things and helping you see them from a fresh and motivating perspective. The title comes from thinking about a child with a buzzer box (the kind with switches, some lights, and other controls that result in lights blinking, buzzers buzzing, etc.). A child will start p...more POKE THE BOX is mainly for entrepreneurs (both social and business), but since the author claims: "This is a Manifesto about Starting," it could also be a book about Life. It features Seth Godin's hallmark style of taking every day things and helping you see them from a fresh and motivating perspective. The title comes from thinking about a child with a buzzer box (the kind with switches, some lights, and other controls that result in lights blinking, buzzers buzzing, etc.). A child will start poking at the box, trying one switch and then another. From doing different things, he learns. So Seth Godin says, "Life is a buzzer box. Poke it." He's begging us to just "Start Stuff." And if we're running a company, he submits we need to encourage and empower our employees to Start Stuff.

He touches on Leadership: "Human nature is to need a map. If you're brave enough to draw one, people will follow...Please stop waiting for a map. We reward those who draw maps, not those who follow them."

He touches on the relationship between doing and failing: "The more you do, the more you fail...The person who fails the most usually wins," ...and then the failures will have been just stepping stones. "Of course, the challenge of being the initiator is that you'll be wrong. You'll pick the wrong thing, you'll waste time, you'll be blamed...This is why being an initiator is valuable." "Failure is an event, though, and with rare exceptions, is not fatal."

He ties his theme in with the theme of a previous book (LINCHPIN) in which he refers to our "lizard brain" that is always holding us back. "For many of us, the resistance is always chattering away, frequently sabotaging our best opportunities and ruining our best chance to do great work. Naming it helps you befriend it, and befriending it helps you ignore it...The purpose of this manifesto is not to magically extinguish your fear. It's to call its bluff."

He has an interesting take on ego: "Somewhere along the way, ego became a nasty word. It's not...It's okay. Let your ego push you to be the initiator."

One of Godin's important points: you can be an initiator wherever you are in your organization's hierarchy. He has some great examples of what this "looks like."

Another gem sprinkled in: "Reject the tyranny of picked [e.g.picked by an investor, picked for a promotion, picked to lead a project)]. Pick yourself."

Godin asks, "When can you start?" And he believes "Soon is not as good as now."

This book may not be for everyone, but I needed and appreciated it.

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Mar 04, 2011 Rosa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, business, self-development

Are you the box needing a poke?

Wow. Seth Godin’s newest book Poke the Box has been out for a mere 3 days, and I notice there are already 14 reviews on Goodreads and 46 more at Amazon.com. Blogger buzz was singing high notes in my feed reader.

As an author it’s easy to feel the green monster of envy breathing down your neck, for Godin has quite a tribe of sneezers (as he calls his vocal audience of idea spreaders). However I’m someone who’s feeling mighty grateful for the energy he’s stirring up....more

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Feb 28, 2011 Aaron Goldfarb rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Seth Godin's new book "Poke the Box" could be a companion manifesto to my book "How to Fail." Forgive my arrogance in saying a thirteen-time bestseller's highly-anticipated new book could be a companion to my own, but Seth essentially says in "Poke the Box" that egomania can be good. Especially when it turns you into an initiator.

"Poking the box" is Seth's call for initiative. We live in a world predominantly without initiative, where people would rather maintain the status quo than shake things...more

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Mar 23, 2011 Julie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Godin is the ultimate optimist, and you can really feel it when you read this essay. However, he speaks the truth on several accounts:

* The world is changing so fast right now, and without initiative, we are simply reacting all the time.
* Society loves to point fingers, blame, and gleefully critique what went wrong. This creates a culture of fearing failure, which leads to mediocrity and continual acceptance of the status quo.
* The more you do, the more times you fail. So, if you aren’t faili...more

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Apr 18, 2013 Kevin Jennings rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have mixed feelings about the Poke the Box. On one hand, I'm disappointed by the lack of substance in the book. Godin's earlier books like Permission Marketing and Purple Cow are full of real-world examples and facts to support his observations. At times, I felt like something was missing. On the other hand, I loved it because it felt like I spent an hour or so with Seth Godin talking directly to me, coaching me on what takes to my ideas forward and explaining why I'm important.

In Godin's def...more

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Oct 19, 2012 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ok a short 83 pages but certainly intersting. I heard Seth Godin a couple years ago but did not read the two books of his. So I am clearning my purchased books before buying any new ones. Well his idea that to succeed in today's environment you have to "poke". You have to have ideas and put them out there and you have to look at existing processes and be willing to poke them to validate them. He hammers home the idea that risk is not bad. Risk when you poke 100 items is different than when you d...more

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Nov 12, 2011 Oleg Melnikov rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The main idea of this book is extremely simple - Start new things and make sure you finish them. Or the quote by Siddhartha Gautama at the end of the book says: "There are two mistakes one can make along the road of truth. Not going all the way, and not starting".

Notes I made for myself:
- Most Important one: Poking successfully also requires tact. Yo're trying to change things, not have people recoil in anger or fear from your poking.
- Poking doesn't mean right. It means action
- Starting means y...more

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Dec 29, 2012 Ben Love rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Originally wrote: “It’s on pre-order… cannot wait to read Seth Godin’s latest work, and his first from the combined Seth Godin & Amazon “Domino Project”.”
This struck me as being a “Linchpin – Lite Edition”. Seth’s focus here is on starting, trying, making that initial move to take initiative (definitely *take* initiative, because initiative is never handed to you).
I love this return to the shorter format (like Meatball Sundae). This is a more direct, to the point volume but packed to the unt...more

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Jul 28, 2012 Magdalene Lim rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: entrepreneurs

If I had to summarise this book in 3 bullet points, it would be:

- Start it
- Finish it
- Godin's rant

Godin believes everyone should push the line or poke the box. Innovation is for everyone. Everyone should initiate things and not be the type to simply keep still, and conform. Slightly too ambitious and lofty, but Godin's book did provoke some thoughts that justified the read.

As with all motivational books that tell you to take risks and be the somebody who starts things, the book would also tell...more

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Jul 09, 2011 Anne rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The premise is good, but really? A whole (little) book? It's an article!

1st imperative -- be aware, aware of the market opportunities, of who you are.
2nd -- be educated, so you can understand what's around you.
3rd -- be connected, so you can be trusted as you engage.
4th -- be consistent, so the system knows what to expect.
5th -- build an asset, so you have something to sell.
6th -- be productive, so you can be well-priced.
And of course, the 7th missing imperative -- be a starter, show initiative...more

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Apr 26, 2011 Tim Beck rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

poke the box. the picture on the cover tells the story found on the pages bound within. from what approach are we looking at life? from what approach are we looking at productivity? Seth Godin compels you to NOT maintain 'status quo' but to 'poke the box' to take risks, be willing to change - all for the sake of sanity and production.

it's not just enough to have good ideas. it's not just enough to dream big. what are dreams if not acted upon? Starting, he says, demands finishing.

this is the ki...more

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Apr 09, 2011 James Cridland rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've worked out what Seth Godin does, and it's very simple. He takes one valid and interesting thought, and writes it in lots of different ways to fill a book.

What Seth has done in this book, I discover, is that he's had one good idea, and expanded on it, repeatedly, to make a book out of it.

Seth's a clever man, because essentially this book is full of one concept, which he's phrased and paraphrased, over and over again, to comfortably fill quite a lot of pages.

What's kind of happened here, you'...more

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Apr 14, 2011 Traci rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: aspiring entrepreneurs, folks looking for a push

I really needed this book. I have been stuck in the hunker-down, "don't create a ruckus"-mode for quite awhile. I need to get out and start poking the box or nothing will change. Poking the Box is the concept of pushing, prodding, and trying things out to see what works.

I love Godin's take on the concept of failure. You can't be afraid to fail--everyone who tries something fails sometimes. It's easy to make excuses and never try because you're afraid to fail. The description of the guy who carri...more

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May 08, 2011 Roy rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Book Review
Poke the Box by Seth Godin

Published by Do You Zoom, Inc. © 2011; 96 pp.

Yes, that is the cover of this book. Go figure. Seth Godin is supposed to be some kind of management guru, if you were to listen to his fans and his self-promotion. It was for this reason that it seemed like a good idea to read his latest book. It wasn’t. Godin writes in sound bites. Either he has spent too much time composing for Twitter or he has too many thoughts trying to spill out at one time – or some other r...more Book Review
Poke the Box by Seth Godin

Published by Do You Zoom, Inc. © 2011; 96 pp.

Yes, that is the cover of this book. Go figure. Seth Godin is supposed to be some kind of management guru, if you were to listen to his fans and his self-promotion. It was for this reason that it seemed like a good idea to read his latest book. It wasn’t. Godin writes in sound bites. Either he has spent too much time composing for Twitter or he has too many thoughts trying to spill out at one time – or some other reason that can only be imagined. In any event, this book is too short to develop any reasonable depth in thought and too choppy to come away with anything but the rant (that’s his word) of someone who thinks he has all the answers. He doesn’t.
According to the blurb in the back flap, Godin has authored twelve best-selling books (translated into 35 languages, no less), writes a popular blog, and has founded a successful web site. He has written for Fast Company and the Harvard Business Review and maybe his kind of choppy, all-over-the-map way of writing is what management guru-followers seek these days. The sad part is that there are no quick answers, no universal methods for success, no go-it-alone opportunities. Yet, from reading this “manifesto” (again, Godin’s word), one might be duped into thinking that all we have to do is go (of course, the last section of the book says “GO GO GO”; it couldn’t be as simple as just “go”). We don’t need a plan, we don’t even need a viable idea. We should just start, defy the status quo, make waves, don’t be held back, stop waiting for a road map, be ready to fail. Yeah, right.
Perhaps when one is an independent consultant, writing into the ether, and convincing corporate planners to pay thousands of dollars to hear one speak, this kind of approach will work. There are, however, those in the real world who have to interact with others, are accountable to bosses, are required to return something for money spent, and are expected to work in a team. Godin probably doesn’t like the idea that CEOs do expect results based on success, that stakeholders are impatient with failure, that “safe” is expected. To bad, that’s life.
This book was not worth the walk to the library to pick it up. Thankfully, I didn’t buy my own copy. Hopefully, it will be quickly relegated to the same lasting value as Godin’s first Twitter feed.
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Aug 18, 2011 Dolly rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of non-fiction

Shelves: 2011, nonfiction, other-usa

I saw a positive review for this book and thought it had a really catchy cover, so I thought I'd give it a try. This is a very short book - I read it in less than an hour. It's not so much of a story or guide, but a pep talk (more like a kick in the behind) to get moving, do something, take the initiative and go! The author provides some interesting examples, illustrations and anecdotes and goads the reader into overcoming fear and inertia to do, to create, to brave the risk of failure. For what...more

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Feb 07, 2012 Rizky rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiksi

Hal pertama yang menarik bagi saya pada buku ini adalah kovernya. Desainnya unik seperti kover buku harian. Gambar lelaki paruh baya yang tampak antusias (entah karena apa) dengan topi yang diterbangkan sehingga menampakkan rambutnya yang jarang-jarang membuat kesan bersemangat dan berjiwa muda ada dalam buku ini. Apalagi dengan latar belakang berwarna oranye, kesan antusias dan bersemangat semakin sempurna. Hanya sayangnya judul buku ditulis dengan warna yang terlalu sama dengan warna latar seh...more Hal pertama yang menarik bagi saya pada buku ini adalah kovernya. Desainnya unik seperti kover buku harian. Gambar lelaki paruh baya yang tampak antusias (entah karena apa) dengan topi yang diterbangkan sehingga menampakkan rambutnya yang jarang-jarang membuat kesan bersemangat dan berjiwa muda ada dalam buku ini. Apalagi dengan latar belakang berwarna oranye, kesan antusias dan bersemangat semakin sempurna. Hanya sayangnya judul buku ditulis dengan warna yang terlalu sama dengan warna latar sehingga sulit untuk terbaca.

Ada pepatah yang mengatakan don’t judge book by it’s cover. Buku memang sebaiknya tidak dinilai dari kovernya saja namun penilaian terhadap kover tidak boleh diabaikan dalam menilai keseluruhan buku. Dan terhadap Poke the Box, saya mendapatkan kesan positif terhadap kovernya. Kover ini berhasil menggugah keingintahuan saya mengenai isi bukunya lebih lanjut. Namun untuk cetakan selanjutnya, sebaiknya judul buku ditulis dengan warna yang lebih gelap agar dapat terbaca dengan jelas, atau biarkan saja tanpa tulisan judul di kovernya. Saya kira itu bisa menambah keunikan kover buku ini.

Masuk pada preview di lipatan sampul depan. Disitu dituliskan bahwa “ Poke the Box (Mengutak-atik kotak) adalah sebuah manifesto tentang memproduksi sesuatu yang langka, dan karenanya dianggap bernilai. Manifesto ini menuntut Anda untuk berhenti menantikan munculnya sebuah peta jalan. Alih-alih, mulailah menggambarnya sendiri. Anda tahu cara melakukannya, Anda sudah pernah melakukannya sebelumnya, tetapi disepanjang jalan yang Anda lalui, orang-orang akan selalu membujuk Anda untuk berhenti melakukannya.

Kami membutuhkan wawasan, impian, serta kontribusi Anda. Bergegaslah.”

Dan saya pun bingung. Lalu membacanya sekali lagi. Oke, jadi Godin menyarankan (atau lebih tepatnya memerintahkan) pembacanya untuk segera menciptakan sesuatu yang langka. Saya lalu coba memahami lebih lanjut. Mencari daftar isi sebagai usaha untuk mendapatkan gambaran besar dari buku ini. Dan gagal. Sebab tidak ada daftar isi dalam buku ini. Bagi saya ini cukup membingungkan. Buku apa ini sebenarnya? Seperti buku harian namun terlalu berat untuk bisa disebut demikian. Seperti buku manajemen, tapi terlalu bebas format maupun kalimatnya.

Membaca lebih jauh, kata-kata yang cukup “asing” bagi saya seperti manifesto dan prakarsa cukup sering dijumpai dalam buku ini. Pemilihan kata-kata tersebut membuat buku ini jadi agak sulit saya baca. Saya membutuhkan 3-4 kali membaca buku ini untuk bisa paham. Kata “manifesto” menurut Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia memiliki arti “pandangan terbuka tentang tujuan dan pandangan seseorang atau kelompok”. Kata ini lebih sering saya temui dalam konteks politik dan budaya daripada bisnis dan manajemen sehingga terasa asing. Mungkin ada baiknya jika kata ini diganti oleh kata yang lebih umum seperti “gagasan”, “pandangan”, atau yang masih bersinonim dengan itu namun lebih umum. Begitu pula dengan “prakarsa” yang menurut saya lebih baik diganti dengan “inisiatif” yang lebih umum digunakan sehingga buku ini jadi lebih mudah dibaca.

Pada akhirnya, usaha Godin untuk membuat para pembacanya lebih berinisiatif mengusulkan sesuatu yang baru dan bersegera mewujudkan usulan tersebut jadi sulit untuk ditangkap karena kesan menggurui dan tergesa-gesa dalam buku ini terlalu kental.

Inisiatif untuk mengusulkan sesuatu yang baru tentu saja merupakan hal yang positif. Penyegeraan untuk mewujudkan usulan tersebut seharusnya menyempurnakan usulan tersebut. Sebab dengan begitu, suatu usulan tidak menjadi usulan selamanya, tapi terwujud sehingga dapat memberikan nilai lebih kepada lingkungannya.

Sesungguhnya ini gagasan yang bagus dari Godin. Tapi sangat disayangkan cara penyampaiannya membuat gagasan ini jadi sulit terlihat oleh saya. Bagi saya, cara Godin memandang pembacanya terlalu sempit. Godin seperti berada di dalam kotak kecil asumsinya sendiri.

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About Seth Godin

Seth Godin is a bestselling author, entrepreneur and agent of change.

Godin is author of ten books that have been bestsellers around the world, and he is also a renowned speaker. He was recently chosen as one of 21 Speakers for the Next Century by Successful Meetings and is consistently rated among the very best speakers by the audiences he addresses.

Seth was founder and CEO of Yoyodyne, the indust...more

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“There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth. Not going all the way, and not starting.” Siddhrtha Gautama” — 31 people liked it

“I define anxiety as experiencing failure in advance.” — 26 people liked it

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