Linchpin_ Are You Indispensable_ - Seth Godin [18]
Very few of us set out to be average or to be typical.
Then, somewhere along the way, the indoctrination kicks in and we start looking for a
place to hide. We try to find a place where no one will discover how truly mediocre we
actually are.
We want steady work, something that smooths out the bumps, a sinecure that will protect
us.
If you're insecure, the obvious response to my call to become a linchpin is, "I'm not good
enough at anything to be indispensable." The typical indoctrinated response is that great
work and great art and remarkable output are the domain of someone else. You think that
your job is to do the work that needs doing, anonymously.
Of course, this isn't true, but it's what you've been taught to believe.
I've been lucky enough to meet or work with thousands of remarkable linchpins. It
appears to me that the only way they differ from a mediocre rule-follower is that they
never bought into this self-limiting line of thought. That's it.
Perhaps they had a great teacher who lit a lamp for them. Perhaps a parent or a friend
pushed them to refuse to settle. Regardless, the distinction between cogs and linchpins is
largely one of attitude, not learning.
The Tiny Range of Motion
I watched author and conductor Roger Nierenberg teach a session using a symphony
orchestra as an example. First, he asked the group to play the piece as well synchronized
as possible. Then he had them do it again, asking each person to go to their own personal
edge, engaging the music the way they wanted instead of the way the group wanted.
To the untrained ears in the room, the two versions were difficult to tell apart.
That's because we teach people to stick within a tiny range. We don't want the lows to be
too low, so we limit the highs as well. The people in this orchestra couldn't even visualize
themselves racing outside the box that had been established for them. Creativity is not
choosing to wear a pink shirt to an office where only blue and white are standard. That's
merely window dressing.
We see this in organizations of all types. We ask someone to do something wacky or
original and they change the tiniest surface element instead of finding the root of a
creative solution. That's no accident. That's what we taught them to do. The opportunity
is in changing the game, changing the interaction, or even changing the question.
Fear at School
Studies show us that things learned in frightening circumstances are sticky. We
remember what we learn on the battlefield, or when we burn a finger on a hot tea kettle.
We remember what we learn in situations where successful action avoids a threat.
Schools have figured this out. They need shortcuts in order to successfully process
millions of students a year, and they've discovered that fear is a great shortcut on the way
to teaching compliance. Classrooms become fear-based, test-based battlefields, when
they could so easily be organized to encourage the heretical thought we so badly need.
So, is it any surprise that people have learned to fit in, do the standardized test, keep
heads down, obey instructions? Decades of school have drilled that into us--fear, fear,
and more fear. Fear of getting a D-minus. Fear of not getting a job right out of school.
Fear of not fitting in.
Well-intentioned teachers don't want to do this, but the system often gives them no
choice. The work of creating positive change in a classroom is daunting, and without
enough time and support, it's a tough slog.
Teaching people to produce innovative work, off-the-chart insights, and yes, art is timeconsuming and unpredictable. Drill and practice and fear, on the other hand, are powerful
tools for teaching facts and figures and obedience. Sure, we need school and we need
teachers. The thing is that we need a school organized around teaching people to believe,
and teachers who are rewarded for doing their best work, not the most predictable work.
Does School Work?
If I drill and practice and grade and reward you