Seth Godin - The Dip (2/52)

Recently, one of my Sauder classmates, NJ Thompson, was accepted into Seth Godin's Alternative MBA Program. I followed her blog and read her application, and was absolutely inspired by her passion for the program and the opportunity to work under Seth's direction. Naturally, I had to check out his books to see what the big deal was. Who was this Seth Godin and why did all these people think he was so great? One of the questions on the Alternative MBA Program application was, "Have you overcome a Dip?" Since I had no idea what a "Dip" was, The Dip was a logical first choice for my first Godin read.

At first glance, I was quite surprised at how short The Dip was. After reading it though, I discovered that the length was just right. Seth said everything he needed to say, and did so effectively, in only 80 pages. He challenges the old adage of "Quitters never win" and instead proclaims that winners do quit and quitters do win. His main message: "Quit the wrong stuff. Stick with the right stuff. Have the guts to do one or the other."

He uses simple language and real life examples to get his point across and drill it home. He explains that without the Dip, there would be no barriers and everyone could become a world-class doctor, lawyer, teacher, marketer, you name it. The Dip exists to create scarcity and it is this scarcity that creates value. There are two important kinds of curves (and a third called "The Cliff"):

1. The Dip - "the long slog between starting mastery". How many of us have started a hobby or project, been really excited at the beginning and then reached that point of... blah. Of reaching a plateau and then just... stopping. Think of the wasted effort, energy and money involved! Seth argues that anything worth doing probably has a Dip. The first step is deciding whether or not something is worth doing, the next is to prepare yourself to stick it out for the long run and break through the Dip to achieve greatness.

2. The Cul-de-Sac - "a situation where you work and you work and you work and nothing much changes. It doesn't get a lot better, it doesn't get a lot worse. It just is." I'm sure there are many of us right now who are on a cul-de-sac and can feel the complacency wrapping around them like a comfortable blanket. It's just easier to stay on that path. But you need to ask yourself whether it is the easy life or the extraordinatry life that you want. Once you realize you're on a cul-de-sac, you need to quit and get off fast!

Everything Seth says in the book are things we all know intuitively (he even says so himself), but rarely take seriously and even more rarely, bring to action. That's why there are so many people stuck in dead-end jobs, who dread getting up every day to go to work. Because the equivalent, quitting, is too hard, scary, embarassing, unthinkable. I'm sure you have a list of excuses too. But if you're truly serious about developing yourself, being the best you can be, creating the best product, running the best company, then quitting may be the right move. Seth challenges you to ask the hard questions and make the hard decisions. It's painful, yes. But it's getting through that pain, when it stops everyone else, that will propel you to the top!

I would highly recommend this book to everyone, particularly anyone who is currently in a Dip and just needs a nudge in the right direction. If you need a kick in the pants to finally get a new job, write that screenplay, or execute that business plan, or just a dash of inspiration to remind yourself of the incredible potential you have to be the best at anything you put your mind to, pick up this book now! I will definitely be reading more of Seth's works.