This is what “The Dip” does best. Tell you what you already know or should know without sounding very obvious. I am a Godin fan. Just because I feel his writing style is very non-flamboyant yet wins you over. This book is a one sit read. Small package, a mind grenade.
Atelophobic by nature, I have always feared mediocrity. So the pages of this book for me were like shots of adrenaline with lime and salt! Being a cut above is not easy. All through high school getting to an aggregate of 60% is not too difficult, but every single point after this is like extracting blood out of stone. This trough sets the future Stanford alumni apart from the good looking rascals. This trough is “the dip”.
The read is simple and jargon free except for the liberal use of marketing argot comprising of words like “cliff” and “cul-de-sac”. This book prescribes the clever intuitive way of gauging your own potential. Simply put - If you don't have the potential to be the best, find something else.
Being a start-up myself, I know how essential it is to pull through. But pulling through is not the answer every time. Whatever you do, if making it to the top is not your point one agenda, you are as good as not trying.
During my CPA days, I set out a different career dream for myself. Work with one of the accounting top 5 (Pre-Enron of course), start in the mail room if need be, but retire as a partner! Then I saw the “Top 5” become the “Big 4” (and that's another blog post) and advertising happened. Life's much nicer to me, and gave me a chance to actually be one of the top 5 with a little shift of industry in question. The dilemma of making it or not, is not a luxury I give myself.
This little dynamite of a book might not be the answer to all your questions, but it will definitely get you asking the right ones. Read only when you are driven, motivated, ambitious and dateless on a Saturday.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: The Mumbai attacks left me very perturbed. I am appalled by the state of Indian democracy and am left wondering if autocracy is an option!!!
6 comments:
Who said Stanford Alumni can't be good looking rascals?
@Ankit.. Stanford and Good looking are antonyms :)
Hey! yeah I can quite obviously see that you are a Seth Godin fan - your last two posts are about him. Have you read "shape shifter"? that was the last non-fiction that i read and liked a lot. if u've read it, tell me is 'the dip' better than that? I'll buy it if its better.
Brilliant blog!!
I am totally floored by the colors and ofcourse the content tooo..:)
@ Jagjit.. Nope. Haven't quite read shape shifter yet.. And you don't have to buy The Dip. I am done with it.. borrow.. :P All I need is an address for the courier guy :)
@ursjina
Beautiful name! :) and thank you!! :)
Oh! R u serious? That would be a favor! nd tht way u also dont have to buy Shape Shifer. I am also done wid it... so borrow.. ;-) i've sent my address to ur gmail id.
Post a Comment