Linchpin_ Are You Indispensable_ - Seth Godin [71]
matter to you?
If this section on gifts and debt and reciprocity feels strange, it's a symptom of how much
humanity has been drummed out of you by a commercial imperative run amok--or
possibly it's a symptom that you've forgotten that you even have the ability to give these
gifts. The system makes you feel taken advantage of, abused, exploited by the
"commercial imperative." You're just a player in the commercial machine. Realizing you
haven't given gifts because you're scared or that you've forgotten what you have to offer
might compel you to action.
I think it's worth a try.
The Circles of the Gift System
While some artists get rich (J. K. Rowling got very rich), making art is not about getting
rich. Art is a gift, a gift from the artist to the viewer, the listener, the user. The moment it
ceases to be a gift, some of the art is lost.
A change has happened to the working life of a typical artist. Now, your art can reach
much further and affect more people than ever before. A folksinger can reach a million
people with her gift, not just a coffee-house full. An industrial designer can impact the
lives of a billion people with a new way to filter water.
Many people have fretted about the economics of this cost-free spread of art in all its
forms, but the real magic is the leverage this expansion adds, not the loss of commerce it
causes. When you have more friends in the core circle, more people with whom to share
your art, your art is amplified and can have more power.
Remember, we're most likely to give gifts to our family and friends. We don't charge
them interest, and they are not customers; they are people we embrace.
The Internet is changing the circle we call "family and friends." Twitter and Facebook
created a new class of people; call them "friendlies." If I can give the gift of art, for free,
to my expanding circle of friendlies, why would I hesitate?
Three circles have traditionally defined the cycle of art among fine artists, such as
painters and sculptors. I think these circles can work for anyone giving a gift or making a
change in the world.
The first circle represents true gifts--items that an artist gleefully and willingly shares.
This circle comprises friends or family or the people you work with. Someone comes
over for dinner and you don't charge them. The meal is a gift. Friends ask for a stock tip
or accounting help. You don't charge them. It's a gift.
The second circle is the circle of commerce. In this circle are people and organizations
that pay for your art. They pay for a souvenir edition or a poster or a speech. They pay for
consulting or a house concert or a newsletter subscription. ConEd pays Paul to work on
its gas lines, knowing that his gift of working well with people comes along for the ride.
And now, the Internet creates a third circle, the circle of your tribe, your followers, fans
who may become friends. Friendlies. This circle is new. It's huge and it's important,
because it enables you to enlarge the second circle and make more money, and because it
enables you to affect more people and improve more lives.
Monet gave paintings to friends (the first circle) or sold them to collectors (the second
circle).
These in turn were sold for very high prices, sometimes after his death. The paintings
were resold to people who needed to possess them, or who wanted to resell them or to
some way control them.
Those paintings hang in museums, where they can be seen for free (or a small donation)
by the masses (the third circle).
This third circle changes art for all artists, forever. It means that you can share your gift
with more people, cheaper and quicker, than ever before. When you focus on the second
circle, when you work to charge more people more often, your art suffers. Instead, we
profit most when we make the first and third circles as big as we can. Generosity
generates income. This works whether you are selling paintings or innovation or a
service.
Linus Torvalds worked hard on creating the Linux operating