“By my definition, most art has nothing to do with oil paint or marble. Art is what we’re doing when we do our best work” says Seth Godin, the artistic marketer and one of many freelance book publicists, that has written 17 bestselling books that were translated into more than 35 languages. Seth’s experimental approach to marketing, entrepeneurship and publishing gave him renewed acknowledgement as a man of wordly action, that writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, quitting, leadership and most of all, changing everything. His most famous books are Linchpin, Tribes, The Dip and Purple Cow and he posts regularly in his blog one of the most popular in the world. Some of his various creative projects include squidoo.com, a fast growing, easy to use website, and the running of a six month alternative MBA program: In December 2008, Godin announced that he would be offering a six-month alternative MBA program at his office in Hastings on Hudson, NY 340 applied and he invited 27 applicants to his office for a group interview. The selection proceadures were very experimental as the group interviewed one another. After co-mingling, in collaboration with Godin, they selected 9 candidates to pursue with the MBA. This group graduated in July 2009.
Recently, Godin once again made an innovative experiment with book publishing by launching a series of four books via Kickstarter. The campaign reached its objective in three hours. His latest book The Icarus Deception, is a manifest on how to be more creative and artistic in whatever you do. Seth’s main argument is that whether you’re painting a picture or serving lunch in a diner, writing a book or writing marketing copy, anything can be taken as art and anyone can be an artist. Art is not what’s created, but how it’s created.
Another creative project coming out of Seth Godin’s brain is The Domino Project, facilitated by Amazon, that is named after the domino effect—one powerful idea spreads down the line, pushing from person to person. The Project aims to represent a fundamental shift in the way books (and digital media based on books) have always been published. The Domino Project is a publishing house constituted by a group of stellar authors organized around a new distribution channel.
Seth is always surprising his audience with new wordly ideas. He certainly puts in to practice his quote: “Don’t waste time looking for a better pencil, learn how to write.” Here you will find some of his latest quotes, taken from his books and blog:
1. “Invent your own next chapter.”
2. “The industrial age brought compliance, and compliance brought fear, and fear brought us mediocrity. The good news about fear is that once you see it, feel it and dance with it, you have a huge opportunity, the chance to make it better.”
3. “Learning is not watching a video, learning is taking action and seeing what happens.”
4. “The long tail of everything means that there’s something for everyone–a blog to read, a charity to donate to, a skill to learn. When you send everyone the same email, demand everyone to learn from the same lesson, plan or try to sell everyone the same service, you’ve missed it.”
5. “Solving problems—actually solving them, not just claiming you do—solving perceived, urgent problems, is a surefire way to get the world to beat a path to your door.”
6. “We used to live in an industrial age, a Smithian-Marxist world where the worker sought to do as little as possible and the boss tried to get the worker to do as much as possible. In our self-serve economy, though, that’s just not true. All sorts of roads, but you have to supply your own locomotion.”
7. “I learned that a long walk and calm conversation are an incredible combination if you want to build a bridge.”
8. “The easiest thing is to react. The second easiest thing is to respond. But the hardest thing is to initiate.”9. “Our ability to communicate with one another isn’t nearly as sophisticated or error free as we think it is. You will be misunderstood. If it’s critical that we understand you, say it more clearly. Say it twice. Better yet, act it out, live it, make it an action, not merely a concept”.
10. “Don’t waste time looking for a better pencil: learn to write better.”
11. “The sound of a small bell during a dark night, is louder than the din of traffic outside your window during rush hour. Surprise and differentiation have far more impact than noise does.”
12. ” The only people who get paid enough, that get paid what they’re worth, are people who don’t follow the instruction book, who create art, who are innovative, who work without a map. That option is now available to everyone to take it.”
Maria Fonseca is the Editor and Infographic Artist for IntelligentHQ. She is also a thought leader writing about social innovation, sharing economy, social business, and the commons. Aside her work for IntelligentHQ, Maria Fonseca is a visual artist and filmmaker that has exhibited widely in international events such as Manifesta 5, Sao Paulo Biennial, Photo Espana, Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Joshibi University and many others. She concluded her PhD on essayistic filmmaking , taken at University of Westminster in London and is preparing her post doc that will explore the links between creativity and the sharing economy.
