Дочитав «The Practice» Сета Годіна

Книжки Сета Годіна завжди мають доволі суперечливі відгуки на гудрідз – часто це як набір блог-постів в паперовому форматі, які не мають конкретних кроків, але часто грають роль якихось, кхе-кхе-кхе, thought-provoking книжок. Щось схоже і з нашумілою «The Creative Act» Ріка Рубіна.

Останні місяці я повільно читав «The Practice». Напевно, одна з найкращих порад – не намагатись її прочитати всю за раз, а якимись невеликими шматочками. Загалом, тут близько 200 невеликих блог-постів абсолютно про все на світі, але які мають спільну тему – креативну роботу. Іноді Сета кудись заносить, але на наступній сторінці він повертається назад до теми.

Trust Your Self

Do the work, become the artist. Instead of planning, simply become. Acting as if is how we acquire identity. Writing is a universal solvent for creatives. Painters, entrepreneurs, therapists, circus acts—each of us can write our story down, a permanent record of how we see the world and how we will change the world.
Knowing that the words are there, in front of others, confirms your identity. “I wrote this.”
Blog every day. It’s easy, it’s free, and it establishes your identity long before the market cares about who you are and what you do. (p. 34)

Взагалі, кожного дня публікувати щось (якщо це не шитпост у твіторі) – наче забирає досить багато часу, але я колись упоровся, і протягом довгого часу на 750 words вів свій внутрішній щоденник (750 слів – це десь займало хвилин 30-40!), і це прекрасний досвід!

Generous

Cynicism is a defense mechanism, and not a particularly effective one. Positive people are more likely to enjoy the practice. They’re not wasting any time experiencing failure in advance. … Perhaps by becoming a pessimist, you could spread your suffering over the time … Pessimists might try to insulate themself from disappointment, but they are probably preventing themself from shipping important work instead. If generosity is at heart of our practice, how does cynicism help us become more generous? (p. 68)

Selling is difficult: Amateurs often feel like they’re taking something from the prospect – their time, their attention, ultimately their money. But what if you recast your profession as a chance to actually solve someone’s problem? … Selling is simply a dance with possibility and empathy. It requires you to see the audience you’ve chosen to serve, then to bring them what they need. (p. 80)

Взагалі дуже цікаво це можна завжди перефразувати – на PetSOS ми не проводимо бездушні консультації, а допомогаємо зняти стрес і невизначеність, пропонуючи швидкі та професійні поради, адаптовані до тварини, інколи рятуючи життя.

Intent

Some simple examples of the question:
…
What’s the headline for on this magazine ad?
What’s the airport announcement about security alerts for?
What is the letters to the editor section of the newspaper for?
…
If you think hard about these, you might discover that a lot of what we build or encounter isn’t about what we think it is.
The headline of the magazine ad exists to get the right person to keep reading (and to have the wrong person turn the page). Beyond that, the headline is designed to put the reader into the state of mind where the next paragraph has a chance of getting under the reader’s skin.
The airport announcements are for familiarity, not attention. They exist to create a sonic background that makes the airport feel like an airport.
The letters to the editor section of the paper is designed to create the illusion that the editors care about what readers think. Particularly the readers who like to write letters to the editor.

До речі, ця ідея з «Letters to the Editor» взагалі не прижилась у нас – памятаю лише газету ПОРАДНИЦЯ, яку бабуся отримувала, і всьо. Модні українські Esquire/National Geographic та сучасні друковані ЗМІ (The Ukrainians, прожекторські журнали, NV і тд) наче ніколи не практикували цей формат.

A hundred years ago, Sonia Delaunay established her reputation as a contemporary artist. … she changed the way people saw color and geometry in modern art.
“About 1911 I had the idea of making for my son, a blanked composed of bits of fabric like those I had seen on the houses of Ukrainian peasants. When it was finished, the arrangement of the pieces of material seemed to me to evoke cubism conceptions and I tried to apply the same process to other objects and paintings”
Instead of seeking to fit it, she made the choice to stand out. Instead of making paintings to please the skeptics, she made art for people who were enrolled in the path toward the new. (p. 138)

No Such Thing As Writer's Block

Rejecting the trap of credentialing opens the door to fake experts. If no credential is needed, if everyone is qualified, aren’t we inviting hacks and charlatans in to do important work?
I think the opposite is true. The fast that you have a degree doesn’t mean you have insight, experience or concern. You’ve acquired a piece of paper, but that doesn’t mean you care.
Actions matter more today than ever before. We can see your work, hear your words and understand your intent. (p. 159)

Steve Balmer cared too much about being right. Despite Microsoft’s financial performance, Balmer failed to understand and execute on the five post important tech trends (search → google, smartphones → apple, mobile systems → Google/Apple, media → Netflix, cloud – amazon). How did he miss? He only focused the company on what he thought Microsoft was good around. He structured the company to defend their core competencies, creating an organisation that was merely competent.

That’s the way our culture works. It’s easy to get a committee together to criticise the new logo that your agency put together. We’re community of critics and tweakers and tinkerers.
The reason is simple: it’s safer. People rarely criticise the critic. And beyond that, it’s not hard to use sandpaper – it’s a lot more difficult to use a bandsaw, or even to use a pencil to draw the plans in the first place (p. 193)

Згадався Кращебгенератор від Агентів Змін :)

Where Do Ideas Come from?

Ideas rarely come from watching television.
Ideas sometimes come from listening to a lecture.
Ideas often come while reading a book.
Good ideas come from bad ideas, but only if there are enough of them. Ideas hate conference rooms, particularly conference rooms where there is a history of criticism, personal attacks, or boredom.
Ideas occur when dissimilar universes collide.
Ideas often strive to meet expectations. If people expect them to appear, they do.
Ideas fear experts, but they adore beginners’ minds. A little awareness is a good thing.
Ideas come in spurts, until you get frightened. Willie Nelson wrote three of his biggest hits in one week.
Ideas come from trouble.
Ideas come from our ego, and they do their best when they’re generous and selfless.
Ideas come from nature.
Sometimes ideas come from fear but often they come from confidence.
Useful ideas come from being awake and alert enough to actually notice