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Linchpin:

Are You Indispensable? (Google eBook)
Front Cover
109 Reviews
Penguin, Jan 26, 2010 - Business & Economics - 256 pages
"This is what the future of work (and the world) looks like. Actually, it's already happening around you." -Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos.com

In bestsellers such as Purple Cow and Tribes, Seth Godin taught readers how to make remarkable products and spread powerful ideas. But this book is about you-your choices, your future, and your potential to make a huge difference in whatever field you choose.

There used to be two teams in every workplace: management and labor. Now there's a third team, the linchpins. These people figure out what to do when there's no rule book. They delight and challenge their customers and peers. They love their work, pour their best selves into it, and turn each day into a kind of art.

Linchpins are the essential building blocks of great organizations. They may not be famous but they're indispensable. And in today's world, they get the best jobs and the most freedom.

As Godin writes, "Every day I meet people who have so much to give but have been bullied enough or frightened enough to hold it back. It's time to stop complying with the system and draw your own map. You have brilliance in you, your contribution is essential, and the art you create is precious. Only you can do it, and you must."

  

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Seth's writing style is unique. - Goodreads
I think it is really good advice. - Goodreads
This section was well researched and organized. - Goodreads
We need to do more than follow instructions. - Goodreads
Seth Godin needs no introduction. - Goodreads

Review: Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?

User Review  - Paul - Goodreads

This is the 2nd Godin book that I have read, and I honestly hated the other one: "All Marketers are Liars". The problem with that particular book was I thought it would make a better pamphlet. I was ... Read full review

Review: Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?

User Review  - Farnoosh Brock - Goodreads

Seth Godin needs no introduction. A world class marketer, a best-selling author of a dozen books, an unmatched voice of influence, not to mention a sincerely genuine person on every interview and ... Read full review

All 102 reviews »

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Contents

Where Is the Fear?
Fear Selffulfills
The Resistance Works to Destroy the Tools That Oppose It
I Dont Know What to Do and Other Classic Quotes from the Resistance
The Cult of Done
Built to Ship
Throwing Yourself Under the Bus
Is It Important Enough?

Tough Times in Queens
How Companies Used to Make Money
A Century of Interchangeable Disposable Labor
The Pursuit of Interchangeability
Was the System Always About Obedience?
The Myth of the WhiteCollar Job
Average Is Over
When the New System Replaces the Old
You Are What You Do
Karl Marx and Adam Smith Agreed
Owning the Means of Production
Mediocrity and the Web
How the Average Subsidize the Merely Mediocreand the Above Average Get Screwed
Can You Become Indispensable?
If You Want
Will You Still Be Loved?
Special Circumstances
The New American Dream
Not My Job
Secret Memo for Employees
This Is No Time for Dumb Tools
The Bosss Lie
Description of the Factory
From Superhero to Mediocreman and Back Again
The Tiny Range of Motion
Fear at School
Does School Work?
I Am Good at School
What They Should Teach in School
In Search of Great Teachers
You Cant Get Far Without One
Creating Forward Motion
Massive Shift in the Leverage of Productivity
The Tedium Pain and Insecurity of Being Mediocre
Depth of Knowledge Alone Is Not Enough
The Best Reason to Be an Expert in Your Field
Your Job Is a Platform
Marissa Mayer
Who Are You Trying to Please?
Linchpins Whether You Want Them or Not
A League of Your Own
On the Other Hand
Colberts Rapport
Where Do You Put the Fear?
Showstopper
Rough Edges and Perfect
The Downside of Good
He Works for Blessings
Do You Need a Résumé?
Google You
How to Get a Great Job
Saying No
Posture for Change
Unsolicited Advice for Steve
Remarkable People Deserve Remarkable Jobs
Labor Means Difficult
The Gift of Emotional Labor
Artists Who Cant Draw
The Art of Interaction
Theres a Village in China
Selling Yourself Short
Passion
The Poverty Mentality
A Practical Reason to Become an Artist
Do You Need to Be an Artist to Market Tofu?
The Myth of ProjectSpecific Passion
Understanding Gifts
Who Is It For?
Nobody Cares How Hard You Worked
The Job Versus Your Art
A Few Questions About Emotional Labor
The Passion to Spread
Real Artists Ship
The Contradiction Between Shipping and Changing the World
What It Means to Ship
Thrashing
Your Lizard Brain
The Daemon and the Resistance
How the Resistance Evolved
The Man with Two Brains
Eye Contact and the Lizard Brain
The Resistance at Work
The Lizard Goes to Work
Seeking Out Discomfort
Developing Plan B
You Dont Need More Genius You Need Less Resistance
Freedom Feeds the Resistance
Standardized News
This Might Work
When Did the Resistance Take Over Your Life?
Proof of the Resistance
Where Do You Hide Your Brilliance?
Anxiety Is Practicing Failure in Advance
Two Ways to Deal with Anxiety
Anxiety andShenpa
Shenpaand Social Connection
People Will Laugh at Me
Shenpaand Turbulence
Watching the Watching
Downhill Versus Uphill
One Way to Thrash and Overcome Resistance
Rethinking Your Goals in Light of the Resistance
The Resistance Gets Its Next Excuse Ready in Advance
Gifts?
We Can Never Repay Keller Williams
There Are No Artists on the Assembly Line
Selfish
Gifts as a Signal of Surplus
Gifts Make the Tribe
Martin Luther and the Beginning of the Money Culture
The Forgotten Act of the Gift
Alcoholics Anonymous and Gifts
What Does All This Have to Do with You?
The Difference Between If and And
Gifts of Art
The Selfish Byproduct
Three Ways People Think About Gifts
How to Receive a Gift
Manipulation of the Gift Economy
The Internet as a Gift System
Sometimes I Dont Want Your Gift
Thank You and
You Can Rip Off an Artist Only Once
The Linchpin the Artist and the Map
Seeing Clearly Isnt Easy
Annoyed at Intent
Elements of Attachment
The Two Reasons Seeing the Future Is So Difficult
Effort Can Change Things
The Quadrants of Discernment
Someone Else Please Be in Charge
Selfdefense
The Artist andPrajna
Untangling the Truth
Attachment to Things We Cant Control
The Guild of Frustrated Artists
Impossible Yes So Lets Get to Work
The Banker to the Amish
John Sells Insurance
Who Sets Your Agenda?
The Candyland Decree
The Choice
The Typical Transaction and the Missing Arrow
More Cowbell
Return on Machines
A Timid Trapeze Artist Is a Dead Trapeze Artist
How Big Is Your Badge?
Fit In or Stand Out
Nostalgia for the Future
The Stressful Part Is the Hoping
Madison House and Passion
Linchpins Cant Merely Grind It Out
This Is What Hard Work Looks Like
Loyalty and Generosity to Yourself
The Linchpin Cant Succeed in Isolation
Creating a Culture of Connection
The Secret of Frank at Comcast
What Moby Says About Art
Honest Signals in Everyday Life
Genuine Gifts
The Placebo Effect
Is There a List?
Delivering Unique Creativity
Managing a Situation or Organization of Great Complexity
Inspiring Staff
Possessing a Unique Talent
Compliance and Humility
What Do You Do When Your Art Doesnt Work?
You Might Not Be Good Enough
Calling Ellsworth Kelly
The Endless Giving Cycle of Art
Will You Choose?
Last Word
On Gifts and Art
On Sociology and Economics
On Education
On Programming and Productivity
On Science Evolution and the Brain
On Wisdom
On Overcoming Resistance and Getting Creative
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About the author (2010)

Seth Godin, Vice-President, Direct Marketing, Yahoo! Inc., is responsible for Yahoo!'s direct marketing, permission marketing and Internet promotions. Godin joined Yahoo! in 1998 from Yoyodyne, where he served as president and CEO. Yahoo! acquired Yoyodyne, a recognized leader in Internet-based interactive direct marketing, last year.

Recognized as the pioneer of Permission Marketing, Godin is a sought-after speaker on the conference circuit, having presented at the Direct Marketing Association's annual conference, Jupiter events, and ICE, as well as international marketing forums. Last year, Godin was one of the highest ranked speakers, among 403 presenters at Internet World. He is a featured speaker at Fall, Spring and Summer I-Worlds. Godin is also the recipient of the 1998 Momentum Award, honoring outstanding Internet industry accomplishments.

Godin received an M.B.A. from Stanford Business School in 1984. Prior to graduating from Tufts University in 1982 with a degree in both Computer Science and Philosophy, Godin co-founded and ran one of the largest student-run businesses in the coutnry. From 1983 to 1986 he worked as a brand manager at Spinnaker Software, where he led the team that developed the first generation of multimedia products, working with such forward-thinkers as Arthur C. Clarke and Michael Crichton. He managed 40 engineers and introduced more than 60 software and video products to the marketplace.

Godin is the author and co-author of a number of top-selling business books, including "E-Marketing, " the first book ever published on how to do business online; "The Guerilla Marketing Handbook, " part of the best-selling "Guerilla Marketing" series; "The Information Please Business Almanacm, " a ground-breaking business reference book; and "Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers into Freinds, and Friends into Customers.

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