Linchpin and Becoming Indispensable

I’ve come across Seth Godin’s book ‘Linchpin’ recently and I strongly recommend it for anyone interested in a strong career. It’s a game changer as far as I am concerned. It’s about being something, that we all, inherently are: artists. Nope - this doesn’t mean artist simply in terms of someone who paints. This is anyone who is creative, who can generate new ideas and solve interesting problems. This is everyone. If you feel you aren’t creative now, that’s  because either:

1) you don’t recognise it in yourself or 2) you’ve lost it at some stage over time. But it’s there...

Here are a couple of big ideas from the book:

Solve interesting and complex problems

This means that we should continuously look for new ways of creating value in the organisations where we work and is the key to the future economy. We can’t always attempt to outwork the competition because often the competition will be working in parts of the world where the currency holds much less value. Therefore, they can do the same work for less. Trying to outwork them would be fruitless.

Solve more problems than anyone else

Become the individual in the company who provides more value. and solves more problems than anyone else. This way it becomes very difficult to replace you regardless of the economic environment. Find out what the company needs on a regular basis and endeavor to be the person to help solve those challenges.

Give people gifts and don’t require reciprocation

I really like this idea because of the reaction you get when you do it. In a society where everything has a price, it can be refreshing to receive some small gift from someone and to know that nothing is expected in return. It makes people feel good and everyone likes to feel good.

Share your expertise - show the wealth of your knowledge

Of course, some people will always be afraid that if they share to much knowledge that their clients won’t need them anymore. In my opinion, considering we live in an age of instant information available at the touch of a button, I believe people are looking for much more than information. And in general, I find that the more you share, the more people want from you. Acquiring expert knowledge will certainty take time, however I believe it is one of the most important career decisions you can make. 

Ship on time

This is the idea that projects will not always be perfect (like this blog!) but they need an to be done and delivered on time. Ideas aren’t the hard part - It’s shipping that’s difficult. Get it done and get it done on time!

Hope you enjoyed this and thanks for reading!