Linchpin_ Are You Indispensable_ - Seth Godin [81]
that this change in government policy is not a personal attack, that this job is not
guaranteed for life. At the same time, the linchpin brings passion to the job. She knows
from experience that the right effort in the right place can change the outcome, and she
reserves her effort for doing just that.
The linchpin has no time or energy for whining or litigation. Instead, she's obsessively
focused on the projects that have a likelihood of changing the outcome.
Here's another way to describe the two axes: One asks, Can you see it? The other
wonders, Do you care?
Someone Else, Please Be in Charge
My flight home was recently diverted to Albany, New York. We were stuck at the gate,
held hostage by the airline with a prognosis of a delay that would last somewhere from
ninety minutes to five hours. Experienced travelers know that when the system breaks,
it's broken. Bail!
I persuaded the flight attendant to give me permission to leave the plane. I had already
gone online and found a rental car for forty dollars. The drive to the airport in White
Plains was about 130 minutes. Clearly this was a good bet.
I stood up to leave and said to the other twenty-three passengers, "I'm leaving and driving
to the White Plains airport. We'll be there in about two hours. If you want to join me, I
have room for four other people, and it's free."
No one moved. I drove myself home.
I've thought about that a lot. Some of these people may have figured I was some sort of
extremely well-dressed business-traveler psychopath. My guess, though, is that most of
them were verycontent to blame United for their situation. If they had stood up and left
the plane, the situation would have belonged to them. Their choice, their responsibility.
Self-defense
When you defend your position, what are you defending?
Are you defending your past, your present, or the future you are nostalgic about?
The market doesn't care about your defense. It cares about working with someone who
can accurately see what was, what is, and where things are headed. When you see a bump
up ahead, do you say, "Oh my god we're doomed!" or do you say, "Isn't that interesting?"
When a vendor or a customer must choose between an organization working hard to
defend the status quo and one that's open to big growth in the future, the choice is pretty
simple.
There's no shortage of panic and no shortage of people willing to rearrange the truth to
preserve their vision of the world as they'd like it to be. There are lobbyists in
Washington who make a great living helping corporations fight the inevitable future by
arguing for protection. There are nonprofits that have long lost their reason to exist, but
are still maintained by management that doesn't have the guts to admit the world has
passed them by. The same mindset that drives someone to stay in their home during a
hurricane is at work. Just because you want something to be true doesn't make it so.
Scarcity creates value, and what's scarce is a desire to accept what is and then work to
change it for the better, not deny that it exists.
The Artist and Prajna
Worldview and attachment always color perceptions. Ask people in the customer service
department about the biggest problem the company faces, and they will almost certainly
define the challenge in terms of customer service. Ask the same question of the guys in
finance, and of course, the answer will be based on the financial lens they use to see the
world.
Artists can't get attached to the object of their attention. The attachment to a worldview
changes an artist's relationship to what's happening and prevents him from converting
what he sees or interacts with into something that belongs to him, that he can work with
and change.
A brilliant negotiator does her art by understanding the other side as honestly as anyone
can. Only by seeing the world through clear eyes can she possibly craft a negotiation
strategy that works for everyone.
It's very easy for us to become attached to our feelings