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values these rare people too highly for this inequity to be a long-term solution for

capitalists. If you are lucky enough to work with someone this generous, pay him a lot, or

your competition will.

Slow down and think that one through. If you are fortunate enough to find an artist, you

should work hard to pay him as much as you can afford, because if you don't, someone

else will.

But How!?

How do I know what art to make? How do I know what gifts to give?

This is the crux of it. Once you commit to being an artist, the question is an obvious one.

The answer is the secret to your success. You must make a map.

Not someone else. You.

THERE IS NO MAP

The Linchpin, the Artist, and the Map

You must become indispensable to thrive in the new economy. The best ways to do that

are to be remarkable, insightful, an artist, someone bearing gifts. To lead. The worst way

is to conform and become a cog in a giant system.

What does it take to lead?

The key distinction is the ability to forge your own path, to discover a route from one

place to another that hasn't been paved, measured, and quantified. So many times we

want someone to tell us exactly what to do, and so many times that's exactly the wrong

approach.

Diamond cutters have an intrinsic understanding of the stone in their hands. They can

touch and see exactly where the best lines are; they know. The greatest artists do just that.

They see and understand the challenges before them, without carrying the baggage of

expectations or attachment. The diamond cutter doesn't imagine the diamond he wants.

Instead, he sees the diamond that is possible.

Seeing, Discernment, and Prajna

You can't make a map unless you can see the world as it is. You have to know where you

are and know where you're going before you can figure out how to go about getting there.

No one has a transparent view of the world. In fact, we all carry around a personal

worldview--the biases and experiences and expectations that color the way we perceive

the world.

The venture capitalist has a worldview shaped by his experience in funding dozens of

companies over the years. He remembers the last bubble and the bubble before that, and

he has the scars to prove it. So when you show him your business plan, he doesn't see

only your plan. He also sees the echoes of past plans. He remembers other people, other

days, other ventures. And those memories color his perception.

The loyal employee has a worldview as well. She wants a stable place to work, and she

believes in you. So when you show her your plan, her worldview changes her feelings

and her analysis of your plan.

And the lawyer and the competitor and the skeptic and the mother-in-law each have their

own worldviews, their own biases and expectations. None of us knows the absolute truth,

of course, but the goal is to approach a situation with the least possible bias.

So the manager and the investor seek out an employee with discernment, the ability to see

things as they truly are. A Buddhist might call this prajna. A life without attachment and

stress can give you the freedom to see things as they are and call them as you see them. If

you had this skill, what an asset you would be to any organization.

Of course, no one does this all the time. When we apply to college, we're attached to the

outcome, so we're blinded to the reality of the process. When our company does layoffs,

we're attached to the outcome, so we're blinded by the truth of the situation. Over and

over, in the moments when we need to see our options the most clearly, we get stuck.

Seeing Clearly Isn't Easy

It's difficult work, which is why it's so rare and valuable.

Seeing clearly means being able to look at a business plan from the point of view of the

investor, the entrepreneur, and the market. That's hard.

Seeing clearly means being able to do a job interview as though you weren't the

interviewer or the applicant, but someone watching dispassionately from