Seth Godin's Blog, page 47

Inciteful

The right answer might not be the best thing you can say.

Perhaps it would be better if you could help your friend take action instead. The acts of finding and doing are almost always more useful than getting good advice.

Inciting action is often better than contributing insight. Better to move forward and figure it out than to stand still and believe you know the right answer.

            

The trap of listening to feedback

"If I listened to feedback, I would have quit on the first day."

You're devoting your life to making something important. Something helpful. Something that matters. Mostly, something that hasn't been done before, that's going to bend the curve and make an impact.

If you begin and end with surveys and focus groups, all you're going to do is what's been done before.

We're counting on you to trust yourself enough to speak your own version of our future. Yes, you'll need the empathy to put yourself in our shoes, and the generosity to care enough to make it worth our time and trust. But no, don't outsource the hard work of insight and creation to the rest of us.

That's on you.

            

About that tantrum

A note to the customer who just had a meltdown. To the groom without a perfect wedding, to the rental car customer who had to wait twenty minutes, and to the boss who's furious that the delivery wasn't as promised.

We heard you. We, as in the people you were seeking to impact, and we as in the rest of us as well, the innocent bystanders.

Actually, we heard you the first time. Ever since then, the only information that's being communicated is about you, not the people you're angry with.

You're demonstrating your privilege (because you need to have plenty of resources in order to waste so many on an emotional, non-productive tirade.)

You're demonstrating your entitlement.

You're demonstrating a surprising lack of self control. Toddlers have tantrums. Adults should solve problems.

And you're demonstrating your fear, most of all. The fear that fuels a narrative of being unheard. The fear that you're not good enough. The fear that this might be the last chance you get to make everything exactly perfect.

Working with the outside world is an act of communication and mutual respect. You deserve to be heard, but you don't have a right to have a tantrum.

            

Entrepreneurship is not a job

You don't apply. You don't get a salary. No one picks you.

Bragging about how much money you've raised or what your valuation is a form of job thinking.

Entrepreneurship is a chance to trade a solution to someone who has a problem that needs solving.

Solve more problems, solve bigger problems, solve problems more widely and you're an entrepreneur.

It's tempting to industrialize this work, to make it something with rules and bosses and processes. But that's not the heart of it.

The work is to solve problems in a way that you're proud of.

            

Missing from your job description

If you're working in an office, here are some of the checklist items that might have been omitted:

Add energy to every conversation
Ask why
Find obsolete things on your task list and remove them
Treat customers better than they expect
Offer to help co-workers before they ask
Feed the plants
Leave things more organized than you found them
Invent a moment of silliness
Highlight good work from your peers
Find other great employees to join the team
Cut costs
Help invent a new product or service that people really want
Get smarter at your job through training or books
Encourage curiosity
Surface and highlight difficult decisions
Figure out what didn't work
Organize the bookshelf
Start a club
Tell a joke at no one's expense
Smile a lot.

Now that it's easier than ever to outsource a job to someone cheaper (or a robot) there needs to be a really good reason for someone to be in the office. Here's to finding several.

 

[Heads up: Today's the early priority deadline for the summer session of the altMBA.

Also! Tonight, just after 6 pm ET, the one and only Simon Sinek is joining me for a Facebook Live conversation, on location.]

            

After you raise your hand...

Show up.

Show up and keep showing up.

Show up with at least as much enthusiasm as you had when you first raised your hand to volunteer.

The volunteering part is easy. Making promises is a fun way to get someone's attention.

Keeping those promises is often unsung, but that's how you build something.

            

Tighter

Since dawn of the industrial age, tighter has been the goal.

A tighter system, with less slack.

Tighter connection with customers.

Even plastic surgeons deliver tighter skin. No one ever goes seeking more folds and flab.

The thing is, tighter is fine when you're trimming a sail or optimizing a production system.

But many things in our lives need to be looser. More room for innovation. More slack for peace of mind. More spaces for surprise.

            

The placebo ratchet

A placebo that works becomes more powerful.

Which makes it more likely to work next time.

It's that simple, but it's magic.

Placebos work for two reasons:

The confidence they create makes it more likely our body will respond, our work will improve, that something will go better.
Things might get better on their own, but if the placebo was around when it happened, it gets the credit.

And so, we end up with medicines or horoscopes or mantras or methods or devices that help us. Without a lot of expense, without side effects, without a hassle.

The positive ratchet of reinforcement can help us if we let it.

 

            

A slow motion trainwreck

We like the flawed hero, bad behavior, tragedy and drama in our fictional characters.

Batman and Deadpool sell far more tickets than Superman does.

If we use social media to attract a crowd, we will, at some level, become a fictional character. Reality shows aren't about reality--they're shows.

Which means that it's tempting to become the sort of trainwreck that people like to watch and jeer and root for.

Personally, and for our brand as well.

Every time DC tries to make Superman more popular, they create drama that isn't inherent in who he is. Brands fall into this trap all the time.

For a long time, people would confirm that they'd rather watch a flawed character, but deep down, they'd like to be Superman. Because his humility, kindness and resilient mental health are a perfect match for his unlimited powers. Unfortunately, as we've turned our lives into a reality show, more people seem happier emphasizing their mess.

It's probably a bad idea to vote for, work for or marry a trainwreck. They belong on screen, not in real life.

Everyone has some Superman in them. But it takes emotional labor and hard work to reclaim it.

            

The words that work

We're bad at empathy. As a result, when we're arguing a point with someone, we tend to use words and images that work on us, not necessarily that help the other person.

So, if you want to understand how to persuade someone, listen to how they try to persuade you.

For example, one partner in a conversation might use concepts like power and tradition and authority to make a case, while the other might rely on science, statistics or fairness. One person might argue with tons of emotional insight, while someone else might bring up studies and peer reviews.

What they're actually doing is talking about things in the way they like to hear them.