According to the NY Times, there are only 1.2 Billion good jobs in the world – and 6.9 Billion people are fighting over them! Ever seen Shift happens?

Education is getting slaughtered in the US – and maybe that is a good thing because free education was set up by Edison and Crew to provide skilled workers for their factory jobs – jobs that have moved overseas. Maybe home schooling, internships and mentoring programs are the way to go. Even with a Chemistry degrees, I didn’t have the skills for a job until I took extra workshops in specific equipment to get certified with marketable skills. The same is true today where a number of jobs did not exist ten years ago — and education certainly won’t fix that.

The key is to be coachable, learn a lot fast, know how to market yourself, communicate, handle the complex — in a nutshell: Be a Linchpin!

Good Luck!

With the passing of Trey Pennington over the Labor Day weekend, a few blogs wrote about the pressure they were under in today’s economy and ever changing marketplace.

I’m confused by that. While I am not as well known as some social media personae, I am a consultant, marketer, author, speaker and an event planner.

I strive to give my best. Every time. I want every event to leave the audience with an A-ha moment. I look for improvement at every opportunity. I try to write better, clearer, more concise. I try to leave my audience with valuable take-aways.

The blog is part of not only the fremium revenue model, but the gift that I give to my audience. Actually to my tribe. I don’t write for everyone. I don’t create events for everyone. I do what I do for the success of my Tribe.

There’s a concept in math of getting closer and closer but never reaching the target. Each step is half the other. Each step is as hard or harder than the last. Yet never quite reaching the target. That target for some is perfection. It’s great to strive for, but it is overwhelming and exhausting to be obsessed with perfection.

You can’t top every speech.

Every blog won’t get a favorite in someone’s reader.

Every tweet doesn’t get a RT.

Maybe the social media audience allows for immediate feedback, but for many they don’t even see your posts in their stream.

If you have 20K followers how many actually pay attention?

You should be focused on your Tribe.

In Linchpin, Seth Godin talks about being an Artist, a Genius and shipping. Good enough often is.

I’m not saying do sloppy work. I am saying focus on your Tribe – not everybody. If everything you do – blog, speak, plan, write – is done with the intent to improve the business of the tribe members, then it will all work out.

1. You run out of time (and quit).
2. You run out of money (and quit).
3. You get scared (and quit).
4. You’re not serious about it (and quit).
5. You lose interest or enthusiasm or settle for being mediocre (and quit).
6. You focus on the short term instead of the long (and quit when the short term gets too hard).
7. You pick the wrong thing at which to be the best in the world (because you don’t have the talent).

From Seth Godin’s book, The Dip.

Have you read the book? Linchpin by Seth Godin. Reviews are collected here at Squidoo.

Are you a Linchpin? Do you aspire for more? Do you want to lead or create or connect or give back?

Linchpins are meeting in 700 cities world-wide. More than 4000 people. On June 14th, 2010. Are you going to be there?

There are many places to connect with Linchpins online. There is the Tribe. (Now with a blog everyone can read). There is a Linchpin NING. There are a few LinkedIn groups. Now there are over 600 MeetUps. There are probably groups local to you similar to the Tampa Creative Network or Brand Tampa.

But this is In-Person! Connect with another local Linchpin live! Maybe you will connect through Art or Genius. Maybe you will Inspire each other to Ship!

(Did you know that there is a Linchpin Manifesto?)

You can meet Seth live on his book tour (dates here; Boston on June 17th)

Linchpin Meetup June 14th

PS: There is another way to meet Linchpins in-person: events like BarCamp.

There isn’t a single I in Team. But there are 4 I’s in this group: INITIATE, INVITE, INFORM, and INSPIRE. (Thanks to Ed Brenegar).

A few other posts about being a Linchpin:  Mind Map, Tampa Linchpin MeetUp, and Are you a Linchpin?.

This is my Linchpin mind map about the basics of what the book Linchpin was about.

Seth also wrote a shorter version of this book titled Brainwashed: 7 ways to reinvent yourself. At the same time be was helping to compile What Matters Now – a compilation of 70 big thinkers writing thoughts to help jump start your ideas, and hopefully your actions.

In Brainwashed and in Linchpin, the main message is Do Work That Matters. The 7 concepts are as follows:

1. Connect
2. Be Generous
3. Make Art
4. Acknowledge the Lizard
5. Ship
6. Fail
7. Learn

My take-aways were that this book followed his others, including Tribes, The Dip, Meatball Sundae and Purple Cow. A Purple Cow is something Remarkable. It’s not a commodity. It’s something that gets remarked about, talked about, word-of-mouth, stories spread (The IdeaVirus).  Seth says that we all have Genius but the Lizard Brain has stopped us from producing our Art. We aren’t using our SuperPowers to make Art, to ship that Art. By shipping our art that has been produced with Emotional Labor. It’s our Genius at work, when we can get the Lizard to shut up.  Also, there is a Generosity Economy that rewards people who create and share their Art and their gifts. (Think about the Freemium business model).  To be  Linchpin, you need to be an Artist, Generous, but also you have to be a Leader of your Tribe. Leaders Connect People. That too is an Art – and a Gift. See how all that works out?

Tampa has 20 people attending its Linchpin Day at the Ideafield Offices. Details here.

What will people do that day? A little speed networking, talk about all the great ideas in Seth’s books, and maybe discuss the following: “How to advance “leadership” in Tampa Bay. In tech, culture, economy, urban living, and sustainability.”  Will you be there? Are You a Linchpin?

That idea can be a service, product, a goal or an actual idea.

It only spreads if it is worth talking about. To spread it, you have to tell a story. You only get to tell the story to people who are listening to you.

Who is actually listening to you? Why are they listening? What story are you telling them?

Seth Godin talks about ideas that spread at TED Talks.

1. The number of so-called experts running around “training” people in social media.
2. The idea of follower counts.
3. The concept of Fan.
4. Seth Godin’s Linchpin book.

When you combine that, the thought becomes that to be good at social media you need to be a linchpin. I know. What?

The idea of Linchpin is around being a vital part of your organization or community. The same way that you would be vital to your PTA or your School Board or your office in the physical world needs to be translated online.

There have been comparisons about how social media is a cocktail party or dating. Those are good analogies, but I am going to take it one step further.

It isn’t about getting thousands of followers. It isn’t about forcing people to be your fan. It isn’t about being a social media guru. It’s about being a Linchpin.

You can do this online – on Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn or Yahoo/Google groups or a forum – byb being the tribe leader. Start by being the Greeter. When someone new joins a forum or group or listserv, they generally don’t know the rules or etiquette. Say Hi and point them out. It’s a simple way to “meet” everyone.

Lead discussions – on any platform. Ask questions. Reply to questions. Infact, on LinkedIn this is a great way to become an Expert in a Niche. How many Best Answer awards can you get?

Connect people. On LinkedIn Answers, there is a spot to name experts. What a great way to prop someone up, give a referral, and help the person looking for answers. Recommendations on LinkedIn is another great way to give praise. (Gratitude is circular, btw).

Follow Friday (#ff) on Twitter is about telling everyone who you follow and why. It’s a nice shout out.

The Retweet (RT @theirname) on Twitter is another way to pass along useful info or spread the word. I usually will retweet with a comment if there’s room.

Commenting on a blog post; responding to discussions on LinkedIn, Yahoo or Google groups; and the other networks is a great way to start a conversation – to connect with someone. It allows the person who posted to know that someone is listening.

These seem simple enough, but people get caught up in the whole what-the-heck-is-social-media. Granted that each network has its own quirks and it takes time to figure each one out, but after you figure it out, ignore the platform/network/technology and hone in on the concept of being a Linchpin.

You can help organize, connect, lead, create – make Art – by being a Linchpin – online and offline. The point is to remember that it’s the same activity online or offline. Reaching out. Helping out. Conversing. Connecting. Listening. Engaging.

When you become a Linchpin, the followers will come. Everyone wants to connect with an Artist, Genius, Giver.

It is a very different book from his others. Most of his books are a quick read with concrete examples. The concepts are easy to grasp and my head is usually swimming with ideas during and after the book. The Linchpin is distinct. It isn’t about Marketing. It’s about Living.

This book is geared toward the W-2. The employee on payroll. Most folks are not having much fun right now at work (if they are employed). This book explains how to get back your job security as well as find some passion at work.

What is a Linchpin? It is a piece of metal that prevents a wheel from falling off its shaft.

“Linchpins invent, lead (regardless of title), connect others, make things happen, and create order out of chaos. They figure out what to do when there’s no rule book. They make their customers and peers happy. They love their work, pour their best selves into it, and turn it into a kind of art.” – Seth Godin’s blurb.

The art that Seth discusses is creating a connection; the act of being human interacting with another human. Art is a gift. It is about being generous. An example is Warren Buffett. He shares his gift for free with the world. That is Art. That is what makes the difference.

See Seth Godin talk about Linchpin on YouTube. Not as good as seeing him live like I got to do today.

“Be a Linchpin in every aspect of your life. How you give, laugh and love.” From the introduction to Seth Godin Live by Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO of Acumen.

Seth explained the book this morning by starting off asking “Are you a Genius?” Then announcing that the Industrial revolution has ended. Work has changed.

A Genius solves a problem the way no one else has before. A Genius brings new thinking to a situation. I am a genius in my niche.

Seth explains that the Industrial Revolution started us on a path where most businesses became a factory – Ford, Allstate, GE. Each employee just a cog in the machine that makes average parts for average people at the cheapest price possible. The problem is to sell cheaper and cheaper, the worker gets paid less and less.  (See Wal-Mart workers). In fact, adjusted for inflation, the average worker in the US has not gotten a raise in 40 years. Also, as things become commodities and get cheaper, profits shrink, pay must shrink, and benefits (like health insurance and bonuses) must decline (unless you are in banking).

How did this begin? With Henry Ford’s invention of the assembly line and the invention of the Mechanical Turk. Public school systems are designed to create factory workers with a consumption hunger. That way the barons of industry – Carnegie, Ford, Edison, and the rest of the Jekyll Isle clan – had laborers for their businesses and consumers for their overproduction.

Seth explains that it began with the idea of inter-changeable parts and has not let up since.  The only way to avoid being interchangeable is to be indispensable. To do that, you must become a Linchpin. To do that, you have to create Art.

I know. What? The Arts are on life support. Music and art are not taught in many schools in the US any more. But Seth is not saying go be Van Gogh. Keep your ear on. He wants you to create art by creating interactions between human beings. Interactions that change, move or touch another human being. Art is a mission of change.

Art is about generosity. It’s about finding passion in your work so that your job is more tolerable – not just for you but for those around you.

My example is that customer service in this country is pitiful. Any decent service and we blog about it! Why? Because, Seth eludes, corporations hire manual readers to interact with customers, but without letting them think for themselves or go off-script. In other words, the $9 per hour employee with 15 minutes of training is the face of your company to the customer standing in front of them.

All those marketing dollars and years of branding derailed by a gum-chewing employee, who you treat like a cog in your machine.  That’s why employers need linchpins. People who want to change that situation (or experience) one interaction at a time. Many companies are experimenting with this on Twitter like JetBlue, Southwest, Comcast and others.

The original title for Linchpin was going to be The Chef, the Cook, and the Bottlewasher. The  Bottlewasher is a Mechanic Turk, easily replaced. The line cook follows recipes, but is also replaceable, just not to the extent that the washer is. The Chef. Ah! He is the Linchpin. People come to your restaurant to eat his recipes, see his plate presentations, have a culinary experience. Creating that memorable (tweetable) experience is what separates you from all the other restaurants.

Seth also spoke of Fear and the Lizard Brain. (Here’s a video of Seth Godin talking about the Lizard Brain.) The lizard brain says to shut up and save your job. Seth says that unless you become a Linchpin, you will lose your job anyway. Anxiety is living with fear before it exists.

It’s time to take responsibility instead of orders. grow into someone indispensable who interacts with people, do what does matters. What matters now?

1. Provide an interface between your company and customers.
2. Creativity.
3. Manage complexity.
4. Lead passionate people (tribe).
5. Inspire the staff that you work with.
6. Deep domain knowledge.
7. To be soooo much better than everyone else.

Art is about abundance and generosity. Your job is your platform to create art. Be proud of what you do and spread your art. Go make something happen.

Are you a Genius?

I am a Genius and an Artist too. That makes me a Linchpin. Seth and I would like to help you be one to. Why? We want the world to be a better place.