Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
Book Review: by Steve Amoia
Seth Godin is a best-selling author and well-known public speaker. His latest book, “Linchpin,” reinforces many of the concepts that we promote at NSoW: Being different, creativity, innovation, generosity, personal networking and passion for your work. Mr. Godin teaches us that indispensable people, who he calls linchpins or artists, think “along the edges of boxes, because that’s where things get done.”
Mr. Godin has written an entertaining, compelling and provocative work. He discussed how the workplace has evolved along with how our brain structure creates resistance for 9 to 5 success. I liked how the book was organized into short chapters with many interesting anecdotes from his own life and concise examples from famous and not-so famous people. The author’s perspectives challenge our notions about the structure of work and the factory/office notion that defines modern-day jobs. Mr. Godin stressed that we must change to survive in a world where competition is not only around the corner but across the globe.
Several Thought-Provoking Quotes
One feature that I enjoyed was the amount of wisdom the author shared in easy-to-digest quotes sprinkled throughout the book. Here were a few of my favorites:
“Linchpins make their own maps.”
“We have gone from two teams (management and labor) to a third team. The linchpins. These are people who own their means of production, who can make a difference, lead us, and connect us.”
“They (linchpins) bring humanity to work. They don’t leave it at home.”
“Linchpins don’t work in a vacuum. Your personality and attitude are more important than the actual work product.”
“Having a factory job is not a natural state. It wasn’t at the heart of being human until recently.”
“Lots of people can lift. That’s not paying off anymore. A few people can sell, almost no one puts in the time to create or invent.”
“Find a company that hires people, not paper.”
“Successful people are successful for a reason: They think about failure differently.”
“The only way to be indispensable is to be different.”
“What the boss really wants is an artist. If he can’t have that, he’ll settle for a cheap drone.”
“If you don’t have a resume, what do you have? How about three extraordinary letters of recommendation from people the employer knows or respects? Great jobs, world-class jobs, jobs people kill for, those jobs don’t get filled by people e-mailing in resumes.”
“You are not your resume. You are your work.”
The Status-Quo of the American School System
The author raised many interesting points about the American educational system. Namely, that the American school system is fear-based, punishes mistakes, stifles creativity and rewards conformity and test-taking skills. Mr. Godin believed that these factors produce future workers who are afraid to stand out due to fear of reprisal. He had an illuminating quote about this scenario:
“Many successful people got that way despite their advanced schooling not because of it.”
Five Minutes of Brilliance
The author noted that linchpins have a unique quality: They solve problems that others don’t anticipate in small bursts of activity. Mr. Godin used a brilliant example to hammer home this point. He discussed a time when a young Sir Richard Branson (Chairman of Virgin Group) was stranded on a Caribbean island after missing the only flight of the day. Instead of waiting for the airline to solve the problem, young Sir Richard chartered a plane and charged fellow travelers $39 a ticket to finance the entire trip.
Gifts and Reciprocity
Mr. Godin is a firm believer of giving without expectation even if the reciprocity inherent in gift-giving has been a part of humankind since the early tribal societies. He believed that when you focus on your art and helping others by your work, the rest will take care of itself.
“Art is a personal gift that changes the recipient… A loan without interest is a gift.”
This book will make a valuable addition to your business and self-improvement library. Please share it with your employer, colleagues and clients.
My rating: *****
Seth Godin on Social Networking
Steve Amoia is a freelance writer, editor and translator from Washington, D.C. He is a contributor to NSoW and is the founder of the World Football Commentaries blog.
Please note:
No Shortage of Work and the book reviewer were not compensated for this article.
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