4.4 314 AOMA (yeah, right) (!)
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 Empathy at a distance
… is almost as difficult as empathy up close.
That person that’s not like you, from way over there, the one that’s on the other team–it’s hard to imagine what they’re dealing with. They don’t believe what you believe, they haven’t experienced what you’ve experienced.
And the person right next to you, the one you’re sure you know so well–they are also dealing with a story and a situation that you can only guess at.
Empathy is really difficult. It’s generally worth it. Because empathy is the key to connection, trust and community.
September 5, 2024
4.3 309 Relax, go faster
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 Compared to perfect
Perfect is useful. It’s an absolute measure, a north star, a chance to improve our work.
But it’s also a shortcut to persistent dissatisfaction.
Compared to perfect is helpful when we’re creating something.
But it’s also worth noting that perfect is unattainable. What’s on offer is never perfect, but what’s on offer might be exactly what we need right now.
September 4, 2024
4.2 322 What are you worth (?)
Matthew 6:24 No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
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SETH GODIN Practical approaches for more effective teamwork
Give credit, take responsibility
Get aligned on timeframes
Insist on a spec, write one, improve it
Agree on a budget
Keep a calendar
Don’t hold a grudge
Speak up clearly and generously
Show your work
Share your fears
Make promises and keep them
Do the reading
Talk about people only when they’re in the room
Eagerly find someone more skilled than you to do a given piece of work
Don’t hoard information
Wash your own coffee mugs, and someone else’s too
Celebrate in public, criticize in private
Don’t hide in meetings (especially the ones you call)
When you’re not sure, ask
Say back what you heard to be clear you understand
Don’t be late
Say please and thank you
Find and offer dignity
Ask what if
Ask why
Don’t tolerate bullies
When solo work is better, insist. Otherwise, pitch in or ask for help…
Support the people you believe in with honest enthusiasm
Pick your team with care, invest once you do
Relentlessly seek better
September 3, 2024
4.1 328 Who owes you what (?)
Let’s pray…
Jesus said, "Repent, and believe in the good news! The kingdom of God is in your midst; it is within you."
Let's use that presence; seeking the power and audacity to imagine better versions of ourselves and our communities:
-- To love God with all our Heart, and mind, and soul;
-- To love one another as Jesus loved us; and
-- To love ourselves with no conditions.
Let's nurture and share that presence, seeking the courage to go from here to the margins:
-- To help the hungry, the thirsty, the unhoused, the unwashed, the incarcerated, and the sick because we belong to one another;
-- To join those whose burdens are more than they can bear because, it's the only way that we'll stop throwing people away;
-- To pray for our orphans and widows, living on the margins of society, especially in inhumane conditions, overlooked by institutions and considered of lesser importance.
In the name of the father, son and holy Spirit,
Amen.
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SETH GODIN The conspiracy of mediocrity
Solo mediocrity is rampant, of course. We know that toasting the bread before making the sandwich makes it more delicious, but in service of convenience and speed, we skip a step.
It becomes a conspiracy when more than one of us is involved.
The freelancer who offers cheap and ordinary work finds customers who willingly engage with them.
The small company that gets worn down by the constant pressure to simply do a bit less and care a bit less, and decides to follow the mass market where it seems to want to go.
The thing about these conspiracies, though, is that many people have to go along for them to work.
In a big car company, it might take the agreement of 30 or 50 people before the new line gets to be a bit less magical. If just one or two folks stood up and said, “not on my watch,” the conspiracy wouldn’t work.
Like most conspiracies, this one isn’t a secret, nor is it well organized. It’s simply the result of short-term market pressures pushing individuals who used to care a lot to care a bit less.
September 2, 2024
3.7 318 G.school #68 B'fast in the park #5
John 10:30 "I and the Father are one”
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SETH GODIN Your audiobook
Here’s a useful habit that’s more than a hack…
The next time things are going well, when a project is about to launch, when a meeting has been successful, when the sun is shining… take your phone and go for a walk.
Hit record on an audio app and make a twenty-minute audiobook. Talk about what you know, what you see, what you hope for. Talk about the change you seek to make and how you’re going to get there.
And then save it.
Save it for when you need to hear from that person who recorded it.
It might become the best audiobook you own.
September 1, 2024
3.6 313 G.school #67 What's next (?)
4-part Transformation program
(Physical, Mental, Emotional, Spiritual) to help people with their unique journey from "Someday Isle" to "Successlandia" (It’s over the horizon, separated by the predictably unpredictable sea), people who are ready, willing and able to work (and want to navigate to their best future). All essential services provided (housing, clothing, food, hygiene, smart phone, transportation), foundational employment, education, career coaching and counseling.
Today’s podcast
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4-part Transformation program
(Physical, Mental, Emotional, Spiritual) to help people with their unique journey from "Someday Isle" to "Successlandia" (It’s over the horizon, separated by the predictably unpredictable sea), people who are ready, willing and able to work (and want to navigate to their best future). All essential services provided (housing, clothing, food, hygiene, smart phone, transportation), foundational employment, education, career coaching and counseling.
3.5 307 1st Principles #5:
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 Language conceals and reveals
When a non-expert brings a strong point of view to a complex discussion, the words might not mean what they seem to mean.
What might be being said is, “I’m worried. I’m afraid. I don’t understand. I am looking for solace.”
Answering emotional word salad with logical insight doesn’t do anything at all for these feelings.
If the argument you’re hearing isn’t based on what we know to be true, and doesn’t lead to a logical conclusion, it could be because it’s not actually seeking to be a productive discussion.
It’s awkward to say “yadda, yadda” but that might be what’s on offer.
When in doubt, look for the emotions and desires behind the words. People often don’t want their arguments to be heard as much as they’re hoping their emotions will be.
August 30, 2024
2. GRATITUDE
2 I’m so happy and grateful now that …
3 Always look on the bright side https://youtu.be/SJUhlRoBL8M?si=ZD373Szeo-gPlkiQ
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SETH GODIN Redefining a profession
Pharmacists used to mix chemicals by hand to create prescriptions.
Opticians used to grind lenses from scratch.
Lawyers used to start with an empty page.
Graphic designers needed to know how to draw.
All of these jobs are still important. None of them are the same as they were thirty years ago.
In your work, are you fighting the change or leading it?
It’s hard to see us going back.
August 29, 2024
3.3 297 1st Principles #3: Chef or cook (?)
James 2:15-17 ESV— If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
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SETH GODIN Brighten up a room
(just by leaving it)
Moving into your kid’s college dorm isn’t going to make the experience better for anyone.
A smart founder leaves her company in a moment when it actually does better without her.
The expectation that secession is failure causes a lot of damage. If you really care about the mission, it might be better to change the system in a way that allows it to thrive.
August 28, 2024
3.2 296 1st Principles: the 5 why's
“The glory of God is man fully alive.” St Irenaeus
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SETH GODIN Write for someone
It’s so tempting to write for everyone.
But everyone isn’t going to read your work, someone is.
Can you tell me who? Precisely?
What did they believe before they encountered your work? What do they want, what do they fear? What has moved them to action in the past?
Name the people you’re writing for. Ignore everyone else.
August 27, 2024
3.1 297 First Principles (huh?)
Galatians 6:9 Don't give up
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SETH GODIN The steep part of the mountain
The end of the trail is usually difficult, but without the long and winding approach, there isn’t much of a mountain.
The greatest hits reel and the stunning photographs leave out most of the hard work.
There’s a lot to be said for showing up, one foot in front of the other. In fact, those are the only people who make it to the steep part in the first place.
August 26, 2024
2.7 297 G.school #66 B'fast in the park #4
Mark 1:15. NIV and saying, “The time has come, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.
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SETH GODIN “How can I help?”
If you have a series of tasks to do, it’s easier to ignore this question and simply get back to work. Doing the tasks is more efficient than coordinating the help.
But if your work is a project, a bigger mission that involves making a change happen, it’s much more productive to accept help.
When we have a project, part of the work is to enlist others in figuring out how to make the change we seek.
August 25, 2024
2.6 292 G.school #65 a syncretic approach (?)
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 sad compromise of “sponsored results”
Google made a fortune and honed sponsored search results into an art form. The theory is that people who want the traffic the most will pay for the clicks, and of course, if the advertisers don’t have something you ultimately want, they’ll just waste their money. Let the market work it out–the dollars become a self-fueling sort of search algorithm.
Google was a miracle, and it also offered smart organic results and clearly labeled ads, so most of us accepted this.
Now, though, hotel listings don’t even bother to pretend they’re sorted in any order but “what makes us the most money.” Yelp requires us to wade through fast food franchises and other lazy advertisers to get where we’re going. And recently, Amazon has jumped the shark by selling out their customers to the highest bidder.
Add smartphones to the mix, with their tiny screens and low impulse control, and the ads stop looking like ads.
Not only are the ads a worse experience for the user, they are also creating a tax on all the advertisers, and thus, on us. If the only way to get Amazon traffic is to buy the ads, then the only way to pay for the ads is to charge more…
We’ve been hooked on free media for a century. But newspapers and network TV evolved to be ever more clear about what’s content and what’s an ad. The internet, as in all things it does, hypercompetes for the last penny, costing all of us time, trust and money.
The oxymoron of “sponsored results” is that if they’re sponsored, they’re not results.
August 24, 2024
2.5 295 Is there a destination (?)
James 2:15-17 ESV If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
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SETH GODIN The missing file
It contained some of my best writing. Cogent, clear and powerful.
I found it.
It wasn’t nearly as good as I remembered. In fact, it was hardly useful.
The opposite happens with the things we fear. When they show up, they’re likely to be a lot less fearsome than we imagined.
August 23, 2024
2.4 286 It's a commandment (!)
He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool; shun him
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Worksheet
Let’s pray…
Jesus said, “Repent and believe in the good news; the kingdom of God is in your midst, it's within you.”
Let’s nurture and share that presence, seeking the power and audacity to imagine better versions of ourselves and our community:
People who love God with all our Heart, and mind, and soul;
People who love one another as Jesus loves us; and
People who love themselves unconditionally.
Let’s cultivate the wisdom and courage
To pray for those who persecute us;
To pray for us who are living on the margins of society, especially in inhumane conditions;
may we not be overlooked by institutions and never considered of lesser importance.
Amen.
2.3 283 Because ... (?)
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.
Today’s PODCAST
WORKSHEET
SETH GODIN Anonymity and Bugs Bunny
I came across this (ironically) anonymous quote recently: “The offline world is full of sticks, but the internet only has carrots.”
When we come together in groups, it can bring out the best in people.
When those groups are anonymous, porous and transient, though, the opposite can happen.
And mobs never helped anyone, ever.
August 21, 2024