3.5 252 First follower or lone nut (?)
James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
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SETH GODIN Infamy
We’ve gotten so hung up on famous that it’s easy to forget that there are two kinds of renown.
Being known for lowering the standards of discourse, cheating, or whining is a choice, but why would you trade your reputation to become infamous?
August 2, 2024
3.4 249 magical science (?)
Matthew 12:30 NIV — “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
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SETH GODIN Stopping a runaway train
It feels urgent because it is.
But by the time the train is running away, it might be too late.
The better strategy is to not sign up for trains that are likely to run away.
The first principle of risk reduction is to figure out if you can stop it later. If you can’t, don’t start.
August 1, 2024
3.3 248 EPW 1.1 What do you want to do (?)
Mark 5:36 …don’t be afraid, just believe
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SETH GODIN The tooth fairy
Make a list of things you used to believe. Fervently, certainly, completely.
Things that you were sure of, but now, with the passage of time and the benefit of experience, you know to be incorrect or incomplete.
Of course, it’s not just mythical creatures beloved by children. It’s our adherence to a social norm, loyalty to a leader or the structure of a point of view.
We’re pretty good at allowing our incorrect certainties to slowly fade into the background, without a crisis or reckoning. We gradually move on, now even more certain about the other things we’re certain of.
Resilience can be found by holding onto our certainties just a little less tightly. One way to do that is to remember just how often the old ones fade away.
July 31, 2024
3.2 237 who was Chuck Norris before he was Chuck Norris?
Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
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SETH GODIN The last little bit
Important hills usually get much steeper at the top.
99% of the training in competitive athletics is devoted to the last 1% of performance. A tenth of a second.
The same is true for squeezing the last bit of performance out of a car, a grape or a semiconductor. And healthcare, luxury goods and science as well.
As soon as we declare it important and invite the world to compete, the problems become more difficult.
Our experience tells us that more input leads to more output, but in asymptotic conditions, where competition is seeking to go to the very end of the curve, this rule is often suspended. The entire point of the competition is how extreme the last few steps are.
The options are pretty clear:
focus on activities where you’re in the sweet spot of the curve, where more preparation, focus and effort lead to huge benefits. This means walking away from competitions against people who are committed to being unreasonable.
embrace the unreasonable and accept that your competitors will as well.
While the unreasonable is thrilling, it’s difficult to build a sustainable career around it.
July 30, 2024
244 3.1 the secret of success (?)
John 15:12 ESV — “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
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SETH GODIN What are you thinking about?
A philosopher can spend a month, a year or a career thinking about one knotty problem.
Making assertions, testing theories, understanding how others are thinking about it as well.
But this exercise shouldn’t be reserved for academics.
What are you working on? When will you change your mind? What can you learn, what can you challenge?
It’s better when we’re on the cusp.
July 29, 2024
2.7 247 G.school #58 Radical Hospitality is step 3 of 4
Matthew 25:35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.
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SETH GODIN “It seems…”
What a simple verb. A five-letter modifier that opens the door to discussion.
If we state something as a fact, we’re asking for an argument.
But seems opens the door to learning and discussion.
What are you seeing that I’m not seeing?
July 28, 2024
2.6 253 G.school #57 b'fast in the park (next week)
John 14:27. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
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SETH GODIN The Zoom stretch
There are a lot of structural reasons why in-person meetings don’t involve a break every 12 minutes. It takes too long to stop and start. But those rules don’t apply to Zoom.
Screens off! Stand up. We’ll be back in 60 seconds.
If it’s not worth coming back, the meeting should have ended already.
If you’re on the call, be on the call, lean in, let’s make something happen.
Or else we’re out of here.
July 27, 2024
2.5 246 What are you doing on Saturday?
Mark 5:36 …don’t be afraid, just believe
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SETH GODIN Important change is systems change
Willpower is overrated.
If you want to eat healthier, don’t work hard to avoid stopping at the cookie jar when you walk into the kitchen. Get rid of the cookie jar.
Systems are long-lasting, widespread and resilient. We can push back on them with effort, but over time, the system usually comes out ahead.
Once we see a system, we can change it.
Fixing the metrics and rewards of public education is more productive than celebrating one teacher who managed to outmaneuver the existing paradigm. And banning gas leaf blowers makes a lot more sense than shaming one landscaper for using them.
July 26, 2024
2.4 267 embrace stress; wait, what?
Matthew 12:30 NIV — “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
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SETH GODIN A bowl of rice
It’s expensive. Hundreds of people were involved in getting you that simple bowl of rice. It involved countless gallons of water, hours of labor, gallons of fuel. A complex supply chain that ensured you got what you needed, in perfect condition, just as you were ready for it.
And it’s cheap. The amount of time the typical person needs to work to earn enough to buy a bowl of rice is lower than it has ever been in history.
It’s tempting to make the rice just a bit cheaper, just a tad more convenient. To pay even less attention so we can get back to whatever it is we were doing.
But it’s useful to realize that we can make the rice far better, and just a little less convenient.
I can make a bowl of rice using brown Nagano Milky-Queen rice from Japan. I can prepare it in a Cuckoo pressurized rice cooker. And I can serve it in a handmade ceramic bowl. All in, perhaps this bowl of rice costs me an extra twenty cents and takes a few minutes longer. And when I eat this bowl of rice, I can pause for a minute and think of all the resources and all the labor that went into bringing it to me.
Better is possible.
JULY 25, 2024
2.3 270 Don't be a snowflake
John 14:27. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
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SETH GODIN The two bicycle errors
Momentum activities like public speaking, board sports and leadership all share an attribute with riding a bicycle: It gets easier when you get good at it.
The first error we often make is believing that someone (even us) will never be good at riding a bike, because riding a bike is so difficult. When we’re not good at it, it’s obvious to everyone.
The second error is coming to the conclusion that people who are good at it are talented, born with the ability to do it. They’re not, they have simply earned a skill that translates into momentum.
There’s a difference between, “This person is a terrible public speaker,” and “this person will never be good at public speaking.”
And there’s a difference between, “They are a great leader,” and “they were born to lead.”
The thing about momentum activities is that we notice them only twice: when people are terrible at them, and when they’re good at it. That includes the person you see in the mirror.
JULY 24, 2024
2.2 267 Step by step (?)
Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
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SETH GODIN Doing it step by step
I was surprised to discover that for many AI questions, if you add, “please figure this out step by step,” the AI will provide a dramatically more accurate and useful answer. This works on simple questions like, “how many times does the letter ‘r’ appear in the word ‘strawberry'” to much more complex issues.
It probably won’t surprise you to consider that this works even better for people.
When we ask a simple question, we often get an opinion or a memorized answer in return. “Freon gas” is not how a refrigerator works, it’s simply a two-word meme to get us through the question so we can move on. When we prompt a human brain to explain the steps, an entirely different process kicks in.
Thoughtful inquiry, pedagogy and user experience design push us to activate this sort of thinking. Yes, a problem often needs a knee-jerk response. It’s not efficient to perform rote tasks with step-by-step analysis.
When it’s important, though, we often benefit by thinking step by step.
JULY 23, 2024
2.1 263 Noy-rons!
Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
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SETH GODIN Patterns and chaos
Finding a pattern that explains events that seem like chaos is a breakthrough. It offers us understanding and a lever we can use to make an impact.
Sometimes, though, the breakthrough lies in understanding that there is no pattern, simply unpredictable noise.
We need effort to find patterns. We need humility to accept the chaos.
JULY 22, 2024
1.7 260 G.school #56 what if this isn't all there is?
John 14:27. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
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SETH GODIN Hungry (vs. not full)
If consumption is the point (the engine of the economy, the focus of our marketing, the driver of our status) then it’s easy to get confused about the difference between something that’s nearly empty (and must be refilled to ensure we keep going) and something that’s not quite full (which means that there’s room for more.)
Keeping something full can be energizing, but it’s not required.
JULY 21, 2024
1.6 258 G.school #55 Is this all there is?
Matthew 12:30 NIV — “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
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SETH GODIN The new reality of old media
Cable TV was a perfect storm. The number of channels that needed old movies and TV series to fill airtime almost exactly matched the number of worthwhile shows that were available.
Which meant that A Wonderful Life, The Wizard of Oz, Seinfeld and MASH could be cornerstones of the culture for decades, not simply a few weeks or months.
A fan could reasonably expect to see them all.
Two things have changed for books, music and visual media:
Shelf space and broadcast schedules disappeared. There’s room for everything, all the time.
The cost of creating and publishing work in any of these media has dropped to zero. When anyone can make a video or a song, anyone will.
The long tail keeps getting longer. Which is fine, except it undermines our expectation that the culture has a center, that the people you’re with have seen and read what you’ve seen and read.
And it shifts the economics as well. Assets aren’t worth what they used to be, and the focus of attention is erratic and unpredictable.
Better is elusive, more is not in short supply and it’s even more of a guessing game than it used to be.
JULY 20, 2024
1.5 263 It's Fri-yeah! wait, what?
Matthew 25:35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.
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SETH GODIN Retreat!
We’ve managed to lionize, celebrate and elevate the mindset of “CHARGE!”
Even when better judgment and experience would indicate that we’re often more likely to succeed with a strategic re-evaluation of the situation.
Making a new decision based on new information isn’t weakness. In fact, it’s the opposite.
No whimpering required. Retreating with enthusiasm is a sign of wisdom and long-term thinking.
JULY 19, 2024
1.4 264 the power of fictional stories
Matthew 12:30 NIV — “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
Seth GODIN Glib
One of the valid complaints about some AI systems is that they make stuff up, with confidence, and without sourcing, and then argue when challenged.
Unsurprisingly, this sounds a lot like people.
We often end up with what we are willing to tolerate.
Show your work and ask for receipts.
JULY 18, 2024