Linchpin by Seth Godin: Summary, Notes & Lessons

My rating: 3/5.

Linchpins are valued. Cogs are not.

P. 61 "krulak's law is simple: the closer you get to the front, the more power you have over the brand."

The Cult Of Done Manifesto

Bre Pettis and Kio Stark

There are three states of being. Not knowing, action and completion. Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get done. There is no editing stage. Pretending you know what you’re doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you’re doing even if you don’t and do it. Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it. The point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done. Once you’re done you can throw it away. Laugh at perfection. It’s boring and keeps you from being done. People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right. Failure counts as done. So do mistakes. Destruction is a variant of done. If you have an idea and publish it on the internet, that counts as a ghost of done. Done is the engine of more.

Unchecked anxiety is the biggest obstacle to meeting your goals.

Shenpa = cycle of scratching the itch.

"Sprinting" regularly can keep the resistance at bay.

In the linchpin economy, the winners are the artists who GIVE gifts.

P. 152 - pizzaria Delfino responds to one star reviews with t

Marketing is leadership. Leadership is about building and connecting like minded groups of people.

Three circles:

  1. friends
  2. patrons
  3. friendlies

The Internet massively expands the third circle.

P. 169 - Great bosses and world-class organization hire motivated people, set high expectations, and give their people room to become remarkable.

P. 184 - 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.

If you own candy land, burn it.

The Seven Abilities of the Linchpin

  1. Providing a unique interface between members of the organization
  2. Delivering unique creativity
  3. Managing a situation or organization of great complexity
  4. Leading customers
  5. Inspiring staff
  6. Providing deep domain knowledge
  7. Possessing a unique talent

Unique creativity requires domain knowledge, a position of trust, and the generosity to actually contribute.