Editor’s note: This is the first of what I hope will be many book reviews I write for this blog. I read a lot, and I want to share the books that have made me more successful, the books that have really changed the way I do things. I hope to be able to review one book or so a week, but we’ll see how it goes.

SYNOPSIS:

In The Dip, Seth Godin makes two main points: 1) To really succeed now, you need to literally be best in the world at what you do, and 2) As you pursue any goal, you will inevitably come across a dip, a period when you feel that all is lost and you need to give up. Those who quit the dips they can’t cross and persevere through those that matter are the ones who succeed.

The Dip is a very small book with a very big idea. It will take you about two hours to read.

TAKEAWAYS:

Being the best in the world

If you want to be successful, you need to be best in the world at what you do. The Internet and the power law will guarantee that those who are the best in the world at what they do with get the lion’s share of the rewards. Being really good used to be enough. No longer.

So, what do you do? You define your market as one you can dominate. If you are an accountant, and you can’t be the best accountant in the world, adjust your market until you can be the best. You might not be able to be the best accountant in the world, but you might be able to be the best accountant in the world for technology startups based in Massachusetts. You can own that market, that world.

Getting through the dip

The dip is when it’s not that much fun anymore. For doctors, it’s taking organic chemistry. For lawyers, it’s slogging through the first-year hell at law school. For developers, it’s moving beyond “hello world” and digging deep into the internals of your language.

Most people quit in the dip. This is the absolute worst thing to do. Either quit before you start, if it’s a dip not worth making it through, or just keep grinding. The good thing for you? Most people quit in the dip. That’s why the rewards are so high for those who make it through to become the best in the world at what they’re doing.

REFLECTIONS:

I recognized myself in a lot of what Godin wrote. I love to dabble, and play around with all sorts of new ideas. I don’t take enough of them as far as they could go.

The “best in the world” mantra has informed the mental framework I’m building as I’m planning out Serendeputy. I know that I need to be best in the world for a certain group of people, so I’m designing strictly for them. I’m writing off the other 95% of the world to be the absolute best I can be for my group.

As for the dip? I know that it’s coming. Right now, I’m building out the alpha version of the product. Things are moving quickly and I’m making a ton of progress each day. The commits are flying and Emacs has turned my fingers into claws. All is well. But, I’ve been doing the easy stuff. But, I know that the Dip is in front of me. It’s glaring at me.

I know that in order to differentiate the business and build some moats, I need to solve a couple of hard problems. I want to make the dip my friend, making it difficult for others to clone my work.

But, the problem with solving hard problems is that they’re hard. Knowing I need to solve them, and actually solving them, are unfortunately not the same thing. I’ve done a lot of hand-waving around the subject, but my nails are not yet dirty.

The dip is coming. And, it’s going to suck.

And, once I’m in it, I know that I’ll look at some of the cushy corporate jobs that are out there and say “Do I really need this? Maybe the most prudent thing to do is to quit.”

But, I know that path is a cul-de-sac. I’ve been a middle manager in corporate America before. I don’t enjoy it. And, I don’t want to have to go back to it solely because I lack the fortitude to make it through the dip.

I hope I can make it through. We’ll know a lot more in the next few months. If you’d like, you should be able to follow along here.

This is a good book, and a really quick read. You should get it.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 at 10:49 am and is filed under Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.