Linchpins & Mini-Factories: Escaping Factory Education & Business

Seth Godin’s latest book, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?, releases today.

I haven’t read it yet, but judging from Seth’s other books I’m sure it will be an indispensable (pun intended) book in the freeman’s 21st Century library.

It leaped to the top of my list when I watched the following interview with Seth by David Meerman Scott.

It’s interesting — though not surprising — that much of what Seth says mirrors what Oliver DeMille teaches in The Coming Aristocracy.

Check it out:

*If you’re reading this post in an RSS reader, you may need to click the title of the post to view the video.

Note Seth’s references to conveyor-belt education, which, according to him, was created with two goals in mind:

1. To brainwash people into believing that the way to become successful is to become a compliant factory worker.
2. To train people to think that buying stuff is the way to fit in and be popular.

So just what is a “linchpin”? According to the book description on Amazon:

“There used to be two teams in every workplace: management and labor. Now there’s a third team, the linchpins. These people invent, lead (regardless of title), connect others, make things happen, and create order out of chaos. They figure out what to do when there’s no rule book. They delight and challenge their customers and peers. They love their work, pour their best selves into it, and turn each day into a kind of art.

“Linchpins are the essential building blocks of great organizations. Like the small piece of hardware that keeps a wheel from falling off its axle, they may not be famous but they’re indispensable. And in today’s world, they get the best jobs and the most freedom.”

Also, in the video above, Seth states that they own their own means of production. In short they are mini-factory owners.

Start building or improve your mini-factory by digesting Seth Godin’s Linchpin and Oliver DeMille’s The Coming Aristocracy side by side.

From the one you’ll learn how to propel your career, and from the other you’ll learn that doing so is about much more than your income and personal fulfillment — it’s about preserving freedom.

As Seth Godin says:

“Every day I meet people who have so much to give but have been bullied enough or frightened enough to hold it back. It’s time to stop complying with the system and draw your own map. You have brilliance in you, your contribution is essential, and the art you create is precious. Only you can do it, and you must.”

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Stephen Palmer is a book writer for mission-driven leaders, a small business lead generation website design architect and persuasive website copywriter, a co-founder of The Center for Social Leadership, and the author of Uncommon Sense: A Common Citizen’s Guide to Rebuilding America.

He co-authored the New York Times bestseller Killing Sacred Cows: Overcoming the Financial Myths that are Destroying Your Prosperity, as well as Hub Mentality: Shifting from Business Transactions to Community Interaction.

He is a liberal-arts graduate of George Wythe University and a graduate and faculty member of the “non-traditional business school” Wizard Academy.

Stephen resides in Round Rock, Texas with his gorgeous wife Karina, awesome son Alex, and princess daughters Libby, Avery, and Laela.

Subscribe to Stephen’s blog and contact him at stephen [at] leadershipwriter [dot] com.