Well, Seth already made this point (see my post Loic le Meur Interviews Seth Godin) about Al Gore, someone who is very uncharismatic, who “barrows” his charisma from the people. And now Zizek makes the same point by referencing the Chinese concept of “Shi”"
“Legitimacy, power or charisma. It is the position of the ruler, not the ruler himself, that holds the power. Therefore, analysis of the trends, the context, and the facts are essential for a real ruler… Is this not the first version of the insight, formulated by great European modern thinkers from Pascal to Marx, that people do not treat some person as a king because he is a king, but this person is a king because he is treated as one? Charisma is the “performative” result of symbolic social practices, not a natural (or spiritual) property of the person who exerts it.”
This is a year old video from a software conference in Boston. For many of us, who follow Seth Godin, there is a familiar core of his ideas. Still you always learn somehting new. ►►►read more
The past century was under a terrible curse of mass movements. And it cut across all political and economic systems. Everything was about hordes, the mindless crowds and abuse of an individual. Internet is a game changer. We see it in Iran and we see it in Brooklyn. Seth writes.
“Dave Balter coined this great term. It describes the quest of marketers for size at all costs. Because marketers were raised on the scale of mass—TV, radio, newspapers—they have a churn and burn mentality. The internet turns this upside down. The internet is about who, not how many. The internet lets you take really good care of 100 people instead of harassing 2,000.
Yet, panicked marketers still look for scale (How many followers can we get? What can we do with a Facebook fan page?) and then hijack that attention, hoping to filter out the masses and get a few sales.
Scalejacking inevitably tarnishes most communities, because individuals (people) hate being treated like numbers just standing by to be filtered.
Steven Stills wrote, “If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with.” I think he was wrong. On the Internet, the mantra that works is, “Be with the ones you love (and the ones that love you.)” Ignore everyone else. It doesn’t have good internal pentameter, but it’s true.”
Seth Godin wrote a book about The Dip. He says that there is a dip in everything. You have to decide quickly if a dip worth riding but there is always a dip, it’s unavoidable. Success according to Seth is persevering in a dip. You climb out of dip to the other side and you see that most gave up, been broken by the dip. You succeed not by being smarted and luckier than others, but you succeed by having more stamina to ride a dip. When you find yourself on the other side of a dip the natural law of attrition elevates you above competition. There is some nice ring to this theory and it explains a lot about life but it never explains how statistically eliminated majority keeps on living at the bottom of a dip.
The five question interview with Seth Godin:
1. BA: We have outlived the totalitarian century when tribalism was in conflict with the homogeneous forces of the central authority. If not political authority of communism or fascism, than economical authority of the imperial corporations (you call it the “TV Industrial Complex”). Do you see the emerging tribalism, ushered by the internet revolution, as a qualitatively new phenomena or the expression of the eternal, latent forces?
SG: Wow, that’s a mouthful, and brilliant, too.
Yes, just like you said.
I think what makes it a quantum leap from a century ago is the leverage of the Net. No longer are tribes isolated silos that whither and die. Instead, they are foundational stones for ever bigger and ever stronger movements.
2. BA: You faced and thought about “the dips”. For many, life trajectory has been altered by the economic paradigm shifts. What would you recommend?
SH: Change favors those that aren’t in charge, those that want to move up, those that want to make a difference. If you’re in that category, look at the economic meltdown as a massive opportunity.
The Dip, that gap between starting and being the best, the place where most people give up in pain… the Dip is your friend, because it eliminates most competition, it makes the other side of the curve valuable. When you see a dip, whether it’s organizational, economic or academic, embrace it. It’s there to help.
3. BA: Do you see yourself as a part of the current behavioral economics fad? You often talk about being the best in a narrow field, but your theoretical span and practical advise is rather eclectic. You are not just about the marketing, you are about technology, psychology, business, etc. Do you see a contradiction between the demands of the “tribal” narrow focus and the fact that we are more Renaissance-like, exposed to broad and deep fragmented knowledge via the Internet?
SG: Well, first, I’m no example to anyone. But I think in this case I am the best in the world at something… being me. The market wants a few people who can talk plainly about the intersection of colliding ideas, and do it in a way that meshes with a restless curiosity. There are people better than me at everything I do, and if you want specifics, ask them. But being able to synthesize is valuable as well.
I think the new marketplace has room for domain experts and a few connectors.
4. BA: Do you think that the current traditional corporate model stays in the way of our ability to effectively monetize small tribal ventures?
SG: Well, the word monetize gets in the way first. Small tribal ventures that we seek to monetize, fail. On the other hand, if we see a tribe as something to grow and cherish and nurture, then it will ultimately pay us back.
5. BA: Why did you turn your bald head into a brand :-)?
SH: Other way around. I became a brand and needed to shave my head to support that.
My hair was getting thin anyway, and as I thought about art directing the article that led to my book Permission Marketing, I thought that it would stand out… just enough. It’s cheaper than getting a tattoo.
