A Book That Can Make You Indispensable

The book for the month is mandatory reading for everyone who wishes to become indispensable. This is written by none other than the legendary thinker and author of our time Seth Godin.

“Show me a family of readers, and I will show you the people who move the world.” Napoléon Bonaparte

Reading GOOD books can change life forever. The mega-rich and successful people like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and Elon Musk devote extraordinary amounts of their time reading books.

The book for today is Linchpin by Seth Godin.

Before the book, it is pertinent to write about the author Seth Godin. Many readers might know him. He is one of the most read bloggers in the world.

He is an author and an entrepreneur, studied at Stanford and Tufts University. He has written 17 books till date.

He is also one of the most sought after speakers. His Ted talks How to get your ideas spread is seen by more than 5 million viewers.

His top selling books are; Dip, Purple Cow, Tribes, All Marketers are Liars and Linchpin to name a few.

The logline of the book Linchpin is,” Are you indispensable?”

He starts the book with the following lines:

“We are surrounded by Bureaucrats, Note Takers, Literalists, Manual Readers, TGIF Labours, Map Followers and Fearful Employees. “

In the book, he is talking about making readers none of the above. He writes,” the compliant masses don’t help so much when you don’t know what to do next.“

The linchpin is someone who is difficult to replace, so risky to lose, and so valuable that they might as well be irreplaceable.

Those of you who read the book with a highlighter to mark important quotes/lines and Paras will find this book colourful at the end of the read.

The following quotes from the book are enough encouragement for the readers to get a flavour of what to expect from the book. This is one of the life changing books.

“The job is what you do when you are told what to do. The job is showing up at the factory, following instructions, meeting spec, and being managed.

Someone can always do your job a little better or faster or cheaper than you can.

The job might be difficult, it might require skill, but it’s a job.

Your art is what you do when no one can tell you exactly how to do it. Your art is the act of taking personal responsibility, challenging the status quo, and changing people.

I call the process of doing your art ‘the work.’ It’s possible to have a job and do the work, too. In fact, that’s how you become a linchpin.

The job is not the work.”

The author goes on to define what an Art is. His definition of art makes everyone eligible to become an artist. You need not be a painter or an actor or even a musician.

“Art isn’t only a painting. Art is anything that’s creative, passionate, and personal. And great art resonates with the viewer, not only with the creator.

Art is a personal gift that changes the recipient. The medium doesn’t matter. The intent does.

Art is a personal act of courage, something one human does that creates change in another.”

“Art is never defect-free. Things that are remarkable never meet spec, because that would make them standardized, not worth talking about.”

“The combination of passion and art is what makes someone a linchpin.”

He defines lizard brain theory. This is interesting and relevant.

“The lizard brain is hungry, scared, angry, and horny.

The lizard brain only wants to eat and be safe.

The lizard brain will fight (to the death) if it has to, but would rather run away. It likes a vendetta and has no trouble getting angry.

The lizard brain cares what everyone else thinks because status in the tribe is essential to its survival.

A squirrel runs around looking for nuts, hiding from foxes, listening for predators, and watching for other squirrels. The squirrel does this because that’s all it can do. All the squirrel has is a lizard brain.

The lizard brain is the reason you’re afraid, the reason you don’t do all the art you can, the reason you don’t ship when you can. The lizard brain is the source of the resistance.”

Finally, he writes; “If you can’t be remarkable, perhaps you should consider doing nothing until you can.”

Reading this book is an absolute must for your better version. It would be appropriate to end the post with Seth Godin’s quote.

“Change making happens when people fall in love with a different version of the future.”