insights and soundbites from sethat LinkedOC event on 02.11.10

are you a genius?

an artist isn’t someone who can draw

an artist is someone who• does human, unpredictable work• makes a connection with other people• makes a difference

create and inventconnect

sellproduce

growhuntlift

value

you don’t want to try to get ahead in bowling

the best you can do is only 300

it’s an asymptotic function

If you’re average, you end up in a race to the bottom

If you’re extraordinary, you race to the top

getting A’s means you’re good at schoolproblem is, you don’t get to go to school after

you graduate

Ben Zander says, “give yourself an A”

Seth says, “give yourself a D – acknowledge

you’ve already failed – then go and do something interesting”

the more choices there are, the more chances you have to do something interesting

what’s holding us back

we all grew up playing CandyLand

we learned to pick a card, move the pieces, work our way through the game

that’s so much easier than doing something creative

humans have “lizard brains”lizard brains are driven by 4 motivations:

1. revenge2. fear3. anger4. reproduction

it’s the first part of our brain that develops – and it always winsthere’s never enough reassurance for our lizard brain

school was built to teach kids to:– buy stuff to fit in– to follow instructions

instead, we should teach our children to:– solve interesting problems– connect and lead

shenpa, a Tibetan word that means “instant anxiety” – failure in advance – we shut down before we even start

a different way to think and act

do you look at your job as an obligation or an opportunity?

the thing you’re scared of is the very thing that enables you to make a difference

“scarcity” mentality – hoard what you have“abundance” mentality – the more you give away, the more you have

people who run marathons figure out what to do with the tired

we need to figure out what to do with the scared

just because the tide is out doesn’t mean there’s less water in the ocean

on linchpins

linchpins are…• people we can’t live without• people who take real emotional risks• people who give gifts (not financial ones)• people who do things when they’re not

required• people who do things to make a difference

seven ways linchpins do what they do:1. create unique interface between customer and

organization2. bring special kind of creativity3. manage products of great complexity4. lead customers (establish a try)5. inspire staff6. have deep domain knowledge7. are really good at the thing

to sum up…

make artgive gifts

do work that mattersconnect

leadship

make a difference(if these don’t sound hard, you’re not doing them right)

do the work!