Posts Tagged ‘Fencepost’

From my perspective, Seth has written perhaps his most impactful book yet. The Linchpin is a new category of person, one who engages their personal ‘art’ in what they do, who can see the course to take when a map doesn’t exist.

This book is a mix of looking at how we think; how we decide; how we got here; and, what is going to be needed to be successful moving forward.

To become a linchpin is to become indispensable.

Seth does a good job encouraging the reader to apply their ‘art’, that ‘extra something’ you enjoy doing, to become indispensable, to leader your organization forward–regardless of your position within it. Rather than simply be a cog in the boss’ machine, do more, be more, whether you reap direct reward (e.g. $$) or not.

Along the way, you might learn a few other things. One of which, led me to post, "Mid Life Crisis Explained.”

The world has changed. Permanently. We can struggle to maintain status quo, or, at least contemplate the options Seth presents.

Recommended.

In Seth’s latest book, Linchpin,  he spends a lot of time talking about maps and artists.  That being an artist means you create your own map, your own path.  And, that society is changing.  Rather than spending your life following a map someone else created, to be successful you’ll need to create your own map moving forward.

While I’ve not been an assembly line worker in a literal sense, it took me awhile (couple dozen reiterations) for what Seth was talking about to truly sink in…appreciating how much of it related to my own life.

Life was relatively easy, for a long time.  With a clear goal in front of me, I could move mountains to achieve it.  I would feel a sense of accomplishment, and life was grand.  So, for the first 3/4 of my life, this is how it worked.  Goal, after goal, after goal.  Going into the service, I bought a map out of the carousel, having chosen to go into aviation.  Once there, the Navy gave me a nice [flight] bag of additional maps to follow (exams, flight certifications, instructor certs, regular performance reviews, etc.).

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Does your company stand for anything? Do you just go to work each day to, ‘make money?’  If you don’t have an answer, why not?

The best place to find it, if there is one, is in an organization’s Mission Statement.  Too many mission statements though are simply great places to collect a bunch of fancy words used to simply obfuscate any underlying meaning. Hmm.  Obfuscate: to confuse, hide the meaning of, be ambiguous.

Google has a 10-point Philosophy.  The most famously quoted is, ‘…do no evil.’  While one might question this basic tenet, it is there, it is understood, and it can be used to help align the organization toward a common purpose.

Even if your organization has lost its way, its never too late to start on a path toward recovery. Maybe this is part of what Google’s doing today, with it’s recent stand against Chinese censorship.  Is what Google’s doing noble?  It’s an interesting question.  See what HBR has to say in, “Why Is Google Doing Government’s Job?”

It’s never too late to Pick Your Fencepost and decide whether to Focus or Flounder.

(Photo Credit: Rainer Topf)