Seth's Blog : Managing the gap

Managing the gap

There's a space between where you are now and where you want to be, ought to be, are capable of being.

A gap between your reality and your possibility.

Imagine that space as a gulf or a chasm and you'll become paralyzed, stuck in the current situation.

And refuse to see it at all and you'll merely be self-satisfied, and just as stuck.

The magic of forward movement is seeing the space as leap-sized, as something that persistent, consistent effort can get you through.

The most likely paths are the ones where you can see the steps.

Your problem might not be that you're not trying hard enough. It might be that you're seeing the opportunity in the wrong way.

       

• Email to a friend •

More Recent Articles

• "You can not make a spoon that's better than a spoon"
• Singular isn't about scale
• Living with what happens next
• The very same software
• Objections vs. excuses

[You're getting this note because you subscribed to Seth Godin's blog.]

Don't want to get this email anymore? Click the link below to unsubscribe.

---

Click here to safely unsubscribe from "Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect."
Click here to view mailing archives, here to change your preferences, or here to subscribe • Privacy

---

Email subscriptions powered by FeedBlitz, LLC, 365 Boston Post Rd, Suite 123, Sudbury, MA 01776, USA.

Seth's Blog : "You can not make a spoon that's better than a spoon"

"You can not make a spoon that's better than a spoon"

Umberto Eco said that when he was talking about the form of paper books.

But I think it raises a challenge for just about anyone who seeks to do something truly great in the world of design (in any of its forms):

Can you invent a thing for which no one will ever invent a better version of it?

Certainly, Dylan has done that for dozens of his songs.

And Frank Lloyd Wright did it with 'Falling Water'. No one will ever build a better version of it.

But Like A Rolling Stone and Falling Water are specific instances of general ideas (songs and houses). Not quite the same as Eco had in mind.

But you know what, that's probably worth aiming for regardless.

Can you make the thing you make next to be spoonlike in its unimprovableness?

       

• Email to a friend •

More Recent Articles

• Singular isn't about scale
• Living with what happens next
• The very same software
• Objections vs. excuses
• A drop in the bucket

[You're getting this note because you subscribed to Seth Godin's blog.]

Don't want to get this email anymore? Click the link below to unsubscribe.

---

Click here to safely unsubscribe from "Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect."
Click here to view mailing archives, here to change your preferences, or here to subscribe • Privacy

---

Email subscriptions powered by FeedBlitz, LLC, 365 Boston Post Rd, Suite 123, Sudbury, MA 01776, USA.

Seth's Blog : Singular isn't about scale



Singular isn't about scale

Tracy Chapman was outsold by the Doobie Brothers by 40:1. But the Doobie's aren't 40 times as singular an artist as she is.

Lou Reed was outsold by Van Morrison at least 40:1. But again, our image and memory of Lou compares to Van's, it's not a tiny fraction of his.

Singular is the one that we can tell apart, the one we remember, the one we will miss when it's gone.

It's entirely possible that creators with scale are also singular (like Van, or Miranda), but it's not required. Many of the artists, leaders and teachers that have had an impact on you and on me have done so with very little popular acclaim.

It doesn't pay to trade your singular-ness for scale.

Singular might lead to scale, but popular is not enough.

       

• Email to a friend •

More Recent Articles

• Living with what happens next
• The very same software
• Objections vs. excuses
• A drop in the bucket
• The second time you create that breakthrough

[You're getting this note because you subscribed to Seth Godin's blog.]

Don't want to get this email anymore? Click the link below to unsubscribe.

---

Click here to safely unsubscribe from "Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect."
Click here to view mailing archives, here to change your preferences, or here to subscribe • Privacy

---

Email subscriptions powered by FeedBlitz, LLC, 365 Boston Post Rd, Suite 123, Sudbury, MA 01776, USA.