A linchpin is an essential element in the success of a team or a plan, it is a pin to prevent a wheel from coming off. Seth Godin takes this term further and shows why a linchpin is the employee of the future, the one that will change our society, the one that breaks the industrial past, makes things happen, invents, delivers, and creates art.
The book starts with the presentation of a simple fact: nowadays working society has moved from the two team structure – management and labor – to a three team structure where the linchpins are included. Godin goes on describing how to become a linchpin, how to fight your lizard brain – biologic resistance and frustration, how to create art by giving (the culture of gifts), and how to create something which is indispensable for others.
If you’re following Seth Godin’s blog, some of these things might be familiar to you already. For example, I knew about the lizard brain long before I got my hands on the book, but it was interesting to connect that article to what I was actually reading in the book. More than that, some of his blog posts can be easily associated with parts of the book since the whole idea is the same, just the context is a bit different. Actually, the whole book was written in a bloggish style which made it very easy to read and follow.
The Linchpin made me believe that things can change – especially in the Internet era – and, as long as you want to change something, there is nothing that can stop you. Well, except your lizard brain – your resistance, your frustration. Being or becoming indispensable can make a huge difference in whatever field you are working in. Creating art and not mingling it with money is where the main difference is.
According to Godin, the linchpins do two things for organizations. They exert emotional labor and they make a map. More than that, if you would like to take a quick view at what it takes to be a linchpin, here are 7 abilities you must have to become indispensable:
- Providing a unique interface between members of the organization
- Delivering unique creativity
- Managing a situation or organization of great complexity
- Leading customers
- Inspiring stuff
- Providing deep domain knowledge
- Possessing a unique talent
Having these said, the Linchpin is a must read for every entrepreneur, employee, and student who wants to know how to tackle its future employment or its own business. The book’s message is simple but, at the same time, very significant for the society we live in. It’s a master piece of motivating and inspiring people, two very important attributes in today’s working environment.
Talking about inspiring people, Chris Brogan actually influenced me in buying the book. I checked his video review and that’s when I took the decision that I must read it as well. Also, I got my hands on Switch: How To Change Things When Change is Hard but haven’t read it yet.
