The Wisdom of Seth Godin in Nine Themes
Interdependent themes leading us to doing work that matters
I’ve been reading Seth Godin’s blog for 15 years, I’ve read several of his books, and taken his Marketing Seminar two times. Given that he publishes 365 days a year, year in and year out, you could say I’ve absorbed a lot of his content. So much so that I’ve noticed a number of recurring themes — themes that have often informed my own writing and work to a sizable degree.
So, I’m offering nine of his themes, which do not come close to representing all of them, but the ones that have had the most impact for me. So let’s get to it.
Sunk Costs
First we have a vision, then we do research, then we say go, which is when the slog begins. Months or even years down the road we may find ourselves continuing to slog through it without seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. Seth might say this investment of time and money is a sunk cost that we’ll never recover, and that by continuing to push and spend so much of our time on a project or business that may never succeed we are robbing the world of our effort and creativity working on something else that will succeed.
This was important for me, as I will often stubbornly persist on a project or business when all the signs are saying to let it go. It can be a blow to the ego. It can feel like failure. But if we shift our focus to seeing the gift of what we’ve learned from it, it’s easier to let go and move on to make the next project more successful.
Ship Your Work
Once I recall reading in one of Seth’s blogs, “Perfect is the enemy of good.” That one hit me between the eyes because in the past you could say I was an extreme perfectionist. His point is that the more we delay the shipping of our work because we’re trying to get it “ready,” the more we’re failing to learn through failure. Seth tells us that being ready means it’s reached a point where it won’t fail, but we can never know that. So instead, get it to the point where it’s good enough and ship it. Then learn and iterate.
Purple Cow
Originally published in 2003, later revised and updated, Seth wrote a short and poignant book about being remarkable. The idea came while on a family vacation in Europe, Seth and family were driving through the countryside with peaceful looking cows spotting the landscape, and he imagined how people would react if they saw a purple cow standing within a group of four-legged herbivores.
He says that “differentiation” is a selfish form of marketing because it’s merely about spinning a product or service in such a way as to make it seem better but may actually be quite average. Whereas being remarkable (creating a product or service that people feel compelled to remark about) is “generous,” a related theme we’ll get into in a minute. The metaphor of a purple cow is a business or product that stands out because it is genuinely different, and he prompts us to consider how we can be more than just different, but remarkable.
Status Roles
Seth uses an example of a clip from the beginning of one of my all-time favorite movies, The Godfather. In which an undertaker comes to the Godfather on the day of his daughter’s wedding to request a service. In Sicilian tradition a favor requested on such a day cannot be refused. The daughter of the undertaker was badly abused by two men. The undertaker decided to trust the legal system, but when the legal system failed to dispense justice he turned to the Godfather.
The scene is subtle and powerful and an excellent depiction of shifting status roles. First the Godfather has status, then the undertaker attempts to gain status over the Godfather by offering him money to commit a violent act, and finally the Godfather asserts his ultimate status over the undertaker.
The point is, that we are all involved in status roles all the time and in everything we do. Sometimes we are shifting upward, sometimes downward, but always shifting or otherwise asserting to some degree. Seth’s prompt is for us to become more conscious of our presumed and assumed status roles and let go of the need to be over or under anyone.
Permission Marketing
One of the most important concepts of marketing from the very beginning of advertising and persisting with vigor to this day is that marketers assume they have the right to interrupt our attention to tell us why we should buy their products. Seth’s point is that marketers do not have such permission unless granted, and that marketing to people who actually give us their permission is far more valuable and meaningful.
Generosity
Being generous is how we become remarkable, it’s how we create rich work cultures, and purpose-driven businesses. Being selfish is always seeking gain, even (and especially) at the expense of others. Endeavoring to be generous is how we create products and services that spread naturally and without interruption marketing. It changes everything.
Change
Change is a seemingly tiny thread that runs through nearly all of Seth’s writing. His very definition of marketing is effecting change, not attention seeking, not click-throughs or impressions. He perceives that true change is not about control, but rather about helping people get what they want in such a way that helps us get what we want.
Resiliency
Seth invites us to create systems that are resilient, verses seeking to control people and outcomes. Resilient systems are self-replicating and self-fulfilling. They are created through flexibility and collaboration. They are regenerative and enable us to thrive even when things seem to be going wrong.
Work that Matters
It’s another invitation . . . to do more than the minimum, to create resilient systems, to bring change, and be generous. Are you seeing how all these themes are interdependent? They are all petals of the same flower, working together to create things that are beautiful and remarkable. Doing work that matters is (in my perception) the summation of Seth Godin’s writing. He doesn’t say it like this, but in my own words I would describe it as making money to do the work we love, versus doing work to make the money we seek.
If you’ve enjoyed this post please like, share, and subscribe. The way the DEEPER side of things reaches a wider audience is through word of mouth. Thank you for your support.