Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
by Seth Godin
Portfolio (2010)
Linchpin is about what the future of work looks like. As you read the book you realize it’s already happening. There are those people around you who have decided that a new kind of work is important and are retraining themselves to do it. These are workers who want to do something that matters. I have tried to extract some of the main points Godin makes in Linchpin.
Linchpins leverage something internal and external to create a positive value. There are no longer any great jobs where someone tells you precisely what to do. Successful organizations are paying people who make a difference: A group of well-organized linchpins working in concert to create value.
A linchpin brings passion and energy to the organization, resulting in getting the job done that’s not being done. This is essential. “Not my job” is not in their vocabulary. Being pretty good is extremely easy; Just meeting expectations is not remarkable.
A linchpin has a skill, not a gift. Linchpins are made, not born, by making internal choices, not being controlled by external factors, using self-determination and hard work. Almost any job can be humanized with mindful awareness.
Linchpins solve problems that people haven’t predicted, haven’t seen and connect people who need to be connected.
Work is a chance to do art. Your art is what you do when no one else can tell you how to do it. It is the art of taking responsibility, challenging the status quo and changing people.
Emotional labor is the task of doing important work even when it’s not easy. Not willing to do emotional labor is a short term strategy.
Linchpins know the rules but break them. Successful people are successful for one simple reason. They think about failure differently. It is essential to learn directly and correctly from your mistakes.
Our system is broken. Being a linchpin is about making a difference, standing for something and earning respect and security you deserve. Work should be fun and it is not something you can fake.
Linchpin: noun: a locking pin inserted clockwise (as through the end of an axle)
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