How they respond is up to them.
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Notes
When we do work for others:
- We “dive right in”
- We express compassion, generosity
- We let go of attachment to the audience’s reception
- We are willing to recommend competitors
Not everything is for everyone.
Thoughts
I’m not sure what to write about this one. It’s clearly another facet of generosity, which is the focus of this section (“Generous”). The story about the shopkeeper in the card shop refusing to point Seth to the florist down the street is amusing. And the observation about the generosity involved in recommending competitors (card shopkeepers pointing out the florist down the street; authors blurbing each other; suggesting an alternative to your work when you find someone whom your work is not for) is… well, I don’t know. Nice?
I guess I’m not yet willing to move beyond my earlier insight, that I create work (however little that is, at this point) for “anyone.” And by move beyond, I’m talking about actually changing—determining which someone I could serve. I’m willing to examine that as I go—my excuse is that I don’t want to stop what little progress I’m making (so far) to navel gaze about that.
On the other hand, as the title suggests, this may need to be a “flip.” If I make work for anyone, I may not actually be making work for anyone.
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.