Linchpin

Becoming Indispensable. A review of Seth Godin’s great new book.

I have been a Seth Godin fan for quite some time. I, along with hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, get his daily blog, which is pithy, always provocative, and often breathtakingly wise. I have also several of his previous books. I purchased Purple Cow because I loved the whole Positive Deviance of the cover design and branding. And Seth is certainly a Positive Deviant as I define it. I would also say that Linchpins are Positive Deviants. One and the same.

Seth himself says that Linchpin is his greatest work. It’s the book that defines his life work.

It is a valuable resource on my book shelf.

The condensed message of Linchpin as I interpret it is as follows.

In our over processed world our systems and schools have been designed to create sameness. Children who follow rules, think inside the set box, don’t challenge assumptions, be good, get a job, show up, do the work, go home. Homogenous. We are drowning in lack of creativity and for lack of the challenging of the status quo.

The quintessential representation of this is the McDonalds burger. The same every where, anywhere in the world. Reliable, same, boring.

What we are starving for now, after a few decades of homogenisation, is the artist. The Positive Deviant, the Linchpin. An artist is someone who creates and in their creation changes the recipient. True art is an act of courage and bravery, a refusal to be limited by ‘business-as-usual’ thinking. Art also always includes a gift. If there is no gift, art is reduced to a commodity.

The central question is, “Am I indispensable?” And if not, how can I become indispensable? For unless I do become a linchpin, then my value is limited and my worth in society as a valuable contributing human being decreases every day, mostly without me even knowing that I am part of this giant system sucking the life force away.

This message is a similar to the one voiced by Buckminster Fuller. Its not surprising. His calculations demonstrated that at least 70% of all jobs in the western world “are preoccupied with work that is not producing any wealth or life support - inspectors of inspectors, reunderwriters of insurance reinsurers, Obnoxico (producing stuff that adds no value, like a pet rock), promoters, spies and counter spies, military personnel, gun makers, etc.” (Critical Path, page xxxiv). Bucky calculated that it would be cheaper and better for the health of the world to pay all of these people to stay home, to not use buses and cars and energy to get to work to produce non life supporting goods and services.

Unless our work creates value and brings a gift to others, then we have become, inadvertently, and for the most part, unconsciously, a piece of the giant machine. the GRUNCH of giants. (see ‘GRUNCH of Giants’ by Buckminster Fuller)

Linchpin asks us to find our art. And to bring it to life. To be indispensable.

The we have to ship it. Or, in other words, we have to get our art out. To sit on our art and horde it is deny our gift and to cut ourselves off from the flow of life and the contribution we have to make. Shipping is essential. Our art does not have to be perfect before we ship. In the world of Forever Beta, we can build into the design, the next iteration.

What we come up against in this process of creating art and shipping is our lizard brain. That part of our brain brought into popular culture by Daniel Goleman in Emotional Intelligence: 10th Anniversary Edition; Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. Our lizard brain is the part of our brain that wants to flee from any form of fear. It is our sabotaging self. It will find the very best and most compelling excuses as to why we cannot do something, why its too hard, there is no money, no support, the time is not right....on and on, an endless stream of limp-wristed excuses that keep us playing small. Its the gap between what we say on our interior, our promises to self, and what we do on the exterior.

Part of expressing our art and becoming a Linchpin is to give. The classic and much revered book, The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World (Vintage) by Lewis Hyde, is essential reading to understand the subtle energetic power of the true gift. In our current working model, so much of what we do is designed as a commodity. The gift element has been lost by commerce and profits. Yet we all know the experience of a gift, because these are the experiences that have us coming back, again and again, for more. The gift is that extra; spontaneous care...a smile, a thoughtful gesture, a kind action, a felt experience. A gift is the alchemical ingredient that works below the level of rational sense. A meal made by someone who pours their love into their work as a cook or chef is no longer just food. It is art. And their love is the gift that allows the food to transcend to a place that is as much about nourishment of the soul as it is about nourishment of the body. This theme was beautifully expressed in the movie, ‘Like Water for Chocolate’, or more recently, ‘Julia and Julia.’

Seth has a unique way of saying complex metaphysical and Universal principles in very plain English. His work is highly readable and accessible. You do not have to be a rocket scientist. Yet his words pack a punch. Why? Because Seth himself is a demonstration of being a gift. And in reading his work, his gift to the reader allows the alchemical reaction to happen, and the book is no longer mere words on a page, but an experience that changes the reader.

This is not a simple self help book. That is why I like it. This is a book that provokes everything about bringing out the greatness we all have and sharing it, not to become fat and rich as a prime objective, but because anything less is a life lived on autopilot. The living dead.

At the intersection of dignity, humanity and generosity we become indispensable.

God knows the world needs you and me to be indispensable asap. So let your art rip, get into action, kick the old lizard in the corner and getting shipping.

Seth, you rock.

What do you think about Linchpin?

I would love to hear your review about the book Linchpin, or your thoughts about my review.

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