RSSLinchpin
Mar 13
I recently finished Linchpin by Seth Godin.
It was a good read with a lot of interesting ideas. It’s largely a manifesto about the world no longer rewarding people for acting like cogs in a machine. I’m very sympathetic to that line of thinking (I’ve quit two jobs partially because I felt that my managers were more concerned with forcing me into their preconceived notions of what someone with my job should be rather than dealing with me as an individual with particular strengths and weaknesses). He also has some interesting things to say about “the resistance”, our subconscious attempt to sabotage ourselves and stay stagnant. However, I think he’s overestimating the willingness of bosses to allow employees to cast off their cog-like ways, and also underestimating the difficulty for some people of making meaningful connections with others (but maybe he’s right and these are just things I tell myself to keep myself in my rut…).I think he does a little bit of handwaving over the actual “money changing hands” part of things. I’m simplifying a bit, but he says that “giving gifts” (such as creating art, or expending emotional labor on someone) is more emotionally connecting than engaging in transactions, and that de-focusing from a transactional business relationship will tend to result in more money in the long term. I sort of agree with that (it’s similar to the whole “people pay for Starbucks coffee because they enjoy the Starbucks experience” thing), but you do need some business transactions happening or the money doesn’t move. As someone who’s hoping to make a living based off of creative output, figuring this puzzle out is very important to me.
The most challenging idea in the book is that it may be a fool’s errand to find a way to make money with something you are passionate about, and it’s easier to find work that makes money that you can become passionate about. This makes a lot of sense, but it’s kind of a criticism of the approach I’m currently taking in my life…
Overall, a well-written and thought-provoking book.