Linchpin_ Are You Indispensable_ - Seth Godin [98]
clubhouse, and then work together to destroy some sort of monster that any individual
superhero could never have bested.
Anyway, near the beginning of most of these comics was a scene where a stranger would
meet the team. Inevitably, the heroes would introduce themselves. Of course, Batman or
Superman wouldn't need an introduction, but the lesser (lower-rent) heroes had to speak
up and describe their superpowers.
"I'm the Wasp. I have the ability to shrink to a height of several centimeters, fly by means
of insectoid wings, and fire energy blasts."
Some fancy marketers might call this a positioning statement or a unique selling
proposition. Of course, it's not that. It's a superpower.
When you meet someone, you need to have a superpower. If you don't, you're just
another handshake. It's not about touting yourself or coming on too strong. It's about
making the introduction meaningful. If I don't know your superpower, then I don't know
how you can help me (or I can help you).
When I tell the superpower story to people, they seem to get it. But then I ask them their
superpower, and they pick something that might be a power but it isn't really super. It's
sort of an average power. "I'm pleasant and compliant" is the one we've been taught.
Sorry, that's good, but it's not super.
If you want to be a linchpin, the power you bring to the table has to be very difficult to
replace. Be bolder and think bigger. Nothing stopping you.
"Of course there is," some say. "I wasn't born with X-ray vision or even a lot of charisma
for that matter." Awhile ago, I may have agreed with that--you needed talents and gifts to
make a difference. But today there are so many ways to lead, so many things to do, so
many opportunities to contribute that I don't buy it anymore.
This concept gets to the heart of the chasm we're facing. You want your pretty safe skill
to be enough. Enough to make you valued, enough to make you fairly paid, enough to
make your life stable. But it's not. It's not enough because in a very connected, very
competitive marketplace, there are plenty of people with your pretty safe skill. The
"super" part and the "power" part come not from something you're born with but from
something you choose to do and, more important, from something you choose to give.
The Dip is about this very thing. If you're not the best in the world (the customer's world)
at your unique talent, then it's not a unique talent, is it? Which means you have only two
choices:
1. Develop the other attributes that make you a linchpin.
2. Get a lot better at your unique talent.
It's possible that no one ever pushed you to be brave enough to go this far out on a limb.
Consider yourself pushed.
Compliance and Humility
At some level, all of us are virtuous, powerful, and wise. But none of these gifts works all
the time. We'll stray from our principles, falter in our efforts, or make a bad decision now
and then. Which is why humility is so important.
Humility is our antidote to what's inevitably not going to go according to plan. Humility
permits us to approach a problem with kindness and not arrogance.
But humility is not the same as compliance. Humility doesn't mean meekness or fitting in
at all costs. Compliance feels like a shortcut to humility because it permits us to deny
responsibility for whatever goes wrong. But compliance deprives you of your
superpower; it robs you of the chance to make something better.
The challenge, then, is to be the generous artist, but do it knowing that it just might not
work. And that's okay.
WHEN IT DOESN'T WORK
What Do You Do When Your Art Doesn't Work?
What happens when the conversation doesn't happen, the product doesn't sell, the
consumer is not delighted, your boss is not happy, and the people aren't moved?
Make more art.
It's the only choice, isn't it?
Give more gifts.
Learn from what you did and then do more.
The only alternative is to give up and to become an old-school