Linchpin by Seth Godin

By making a small donation to the Acumen Fund I was able to get a free preview copy of Seth Godin's new book, Linchpin.  This is only the second book I have read by Seth Godin.  I just recently discovered his work and am kind of a late comer to the Seth Godin party.  The first book I read was Tribes.  Great book.  Here is my review.  After I read Tribes I started reading Seth Godin's Blog.  I'll admit that I have become a bit of a Seth Godin fan.  So, when I was given the opportunity to get an advance copy of Linchpin, I jumped at the chance. 

I judge the value of a book by its impact on my life.  Did it inspire me?  Am I going to do something differently now that I have read this book?  Do I want to share it with others?   Additionally, I usually read non-fiction books with a pen or highlighter in my hand.  As I go through the book I'll highlight important points or things that made an impact on me.  The more highlights the better the book.   So, was this book valuable?  Here are my thoughts.

This book showed up at a critical transition point in my career.  It made me stop and think about what went wrong in my last job and helped me set some clear direction for what I want out of my next job.   It is definitely worth reading and I intend to recommend it to all of my friends and family.    The great thing about this book is that those who don't want to become a Linchpin will either not read the book or scoff at it because it is unrealistic in today's world.  Hence they will never become Linchpins anyway.  Which is good, because; to quote Judge Smails in Caddyshack, "Well, the world needs ditch diggers, too".  (Yes, I know, a ditch digger can be a linchpin)  Knowledge workers (or emotional workers as Seth refers to them) are struggling to find their place in the work force.  I think Linchpin provides helpful direction as the world changes.  This book helps each of us create the map for their future.  I was inspired by his insights and direction. 

Another indicator of the worth of the book to me is how many pages contain highlights.  I am not the type of person that highlights entire pages because if you highlight everything, then nothing is important.  I only go after the golden nuggets of wisdom, things that inspired me or things I want to return and read.  There are 236 pages in this book.  I have at least one highlight on 145 of the pages.  That's way above average.  Seth managed to catch my attention on over half of the pages in his book.  Not bad.  Thanks Seth. 

Ok, I only have one small gripe. but I feel like Seth's writing is a bit choppy and, at times, disjointed.  I felt like I was reading a few hundred blog posts.  Sometimes they flowed together nicely, but other times thoughts were not fully developed before moving on.  Then I would find the rest of the thought brought to a conclusion a few "blog posts" later.   For our short attention span society, this writing works well and perhaps this was his intent so my comments may not be negative feedback at all.

I highly recommend this book.  It is worth reading.  Go out and buy it, read it, and become a linchpin.