Book 17 for my #50BooksIn2016 challenge. Find out more about my commitment here.
“A genius looks at something that others are stuck on and gets the world unstuck. A genius brings human insight to a problem and solves it in a new way. A genius writes the manual instead of following it.”
Once again, Seth Godin flips my thinking. He challenges me to see my thoughts and interactions differently. To be graceful.
“…artistic, elegant, subtle and effective… A graceful person raises the game of everyone nearby, causing a race to the top, not the bottom.”
He writes as if you are chatting over coffee and you’ve asked just the right question to peak his passion and sense of duty. He so urgently wants you to understand and believe. Not in a religious, convert or be doomed, kind of way, but because he wants to see you flourish and do big things and change the world.
The entire book is quotable. The way he talks about genius, scarcity, mastery, creativity, and art. It’s all so good.
One of my favorite sections is on the attitude of a tourist. I love to travel, and often consider myself a tourist when I do so. But no longer. Godin says tourists send their time actually trying to insulate themselves from the new culture they are in, because it is different and scary. They aren’t really open to new experiences. They just want to check a location off their list – without really immersing themselves, learning or coming away changed.
I don’t want to shy away from new, different, or uncomfortable. I want to be fully immersed. Whether that is a new place or culture when I travel or a new and exciting project. I want to go all in and come out different, better.
For me, this is a must read if you want to change the way you work and think.
