“Shipping means that it’s for someone.”
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Notes
“Good” means resonating with the people you seek to serve.
You can choose to do work for yourself (“for an audience of one”), but that’s what a working professional does. A working professional ships creative work—which means it’s for someone.
The practice:
- Realizing that the audience isn’t wrong; you’re just not right yet.
- Generous and brave commitment
- On the hook to see the audience
- To develop the empathy to create generous work
Thoughts
In my thoughts on the previous chapter, this is exactly the issue I was starting to admit to myself.
I think I entered this project (reading this book) having interpreted the book’s subtitle, “Ship Creative Work,” as meaning simply get the work out—or maybe just finish the work. (“Ship” is so obviously not “finish,” but I think that’s what I was thinking.)
Now I’m being challenged to think differently, to see the work as something more important than just what I want to do. It’s uncomfortable, and I find myself writing in circles. (This is not a complaint, by the way. I appreciate the challenge, even if I resist it.)
So I guess I’m uncertain at two levels here: one at the level of what the practice actually is; and another at the level of why do I want to do this?
If the identity I’m seeking through a practice is that of “musician” (and the “single engagement” is an album—and I think that’s where I’m headed), then I can see the disconnect here. In some ways, I want to make music I like (“audience of one”). Writer, performer, recording engineer, mixer, producer—in one. Todd Rundgren in Hermit of Mink Hollow.
At the same time, that’s not fully true, as I don’t just make the music and listen to it from time to time. I mean, I do that, but that’s not all I do: I post finished songs (those rare gems) on Soundcloud, and link to it (as I just did right there), and announce it on Facebook, and hope people hear it. External validation, really.
Posting my music isn’t ungenerous. But, compared to the things that Seth has written about, it’s not necessarily generous or empathetic, either. (I can say “not necessarily” because… well, maybe it is! This requires more thought.)
This series is meant to capture my thoughts as I work through Seth Godin’s The Practice. It’s a book with over 200 (very short) chapters, which I hope to work through and, I further hope, to implement over time.
If you’re interested in more of Godin’s ideas, or my thoughts about them, you can check out this collection of posts. Note that if you’re more interested in the former, you should probably get Godin’s book and read it yourself; my notes will be both incomplete and idiosyncratic, and my thoughts will relate to my own experience.
But if my thoughts resonate with you, or if you think I’m just silly, I welcome your comments.