Poke the Box

I've read several of Seth Godin's books and have to say that I always feel like I want more. Something always seems to be lacking -- maybe it's organization (as I find he leaps around a lot trying to make a point, not quite getting there, then coming back to it later to still not follow through with a point). Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?was a good example of him trying to prove a point but never telling the reader HOW to do it.

Poke the Box is a much stronger work -- probably one of the strongest I've seen from Seth. While he still needs to work on organizing his thoughts and not just writing out of stream of consciousness, at least this one had a definition of what it means to poke the box, why you should poke the box, and how to poke the box.

Towards the end, he goes back to his usual rant of "get started on a project then ship it," but for most of this book I actually felt like he was talking about me. He talks about people who want to initiate and have a lot of ideas, the difference being that true initiators "start." I often feel unfocused jumping from project to project, starting lots of them usually in a steady stream. Okay, this is where his "ship it" comes in -- you've got to finish what you start -- and I do have to work to overcome my tendency to let projects fall off the face of the earth. I really liked his dandelion analogy -- it spoke to me and I'll have to remember it when I once again feel like I'm doing too much and spreading myself too thin.

I also understand his frustration of watching people walk in repetitive circles waiting to be told what to do -- wanting a map. We both want people to do more, be more. Not everyone wants to though. Must be a personality thing - we're probably both architect types who see the structure of things and want to make it better.

Businesses who are stuck in routine would benefit from reading this book too. Especially if they've had failures within their business, like a merger that fell through or high turnovers. Businesses need to remember what motivates people.

There are a couple nuggets in this that I want to institute in my own art business.

Okay, Seth, you finally got your point across in a good way. This product is complete. What's your next idea?