MOVING ON UP
Overcoming the ‘resistance’ Why are so many people resistant to change and afraid of taking that step into the unknown? Well, according to Godin, the reason is actually biological. He refers to it as the “lizard brain”. All it cares about is eating and staying safe and retaining its status within the tribe. Its main instinct is survival and, therefore, it resists trying any- thing where the outcome is unsure for fear of failure. The human brain is comprised of two parts – the “daemon” and the “resis- tance”. The former is the part that comes up with all the great ideas, the latter is the part that ensures they never come to fruition. Godin claims that the “resistance” manifests itself in a number
of different ways, some more apparent than others. One of these, no doubt familiar to anyone who has ever worked to a tight dead- line, is what he terms “the fear to ship”. This is where constant last-minute tweaking delays a project and results in the deadline being missed. Bizarrely, this fear to ship is caused by an innate fear of failure
but actually serves to sabotage the entire project and cause that failure to happen. Godin’s message on this is quite clear – “ship first, change the world later” or, as others have put it, make peace with perfection and move on. Not all “art” is great anyway, Godin points out, but the true artist’s drive to create remains undiminished. Overcoming the “resistance” requires a combination of personal
enough to make a difference.” True linchpins never work in isolation, Godin adds, but always
remain closely connected to both their colleagues and their cus- tomers. They need to get out into the world and share their “art”. It is this ability to connect that enables them to push their ideas through. The emergence of the internet has also aided this process and made it easier for pioneering linchpin thinkers to get their ideas out to the world. The five elements that most psychologists would agree make up
a well-rounded person are also the five traits that, not coinciden- tally, are indicative of the linchpin, he says. These are openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and emotional stability and linchpins constantly fine-tune and leverage these traits to achieve their goals.
and inter-personal skills – first you need a clear picture of the chal- lenge ahead, what’s involved, the deadline and, most importantly, the desired outcome. Then you need to use your communication skills as a true linchpin to impress your vision on those around you with the ultimate goal of “ship first” always to the fore. After all, fear of failure is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Taking the leap Becoming a linchpin is far from simple or easy as there is no exact road map or set of instructions to follow. Instead, it is a change that requires a firm commitment that must originate from within, according to Godin. “Nothing about becoming indispensable is easy,” he points out. “If it’s easy, it’s already been done and is no longer valuable.”
Volume 4 Issue 3 2010 Marketing Age 55
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