I saw Seth Godin in London.

As someone who has seen a fair few business speakers over the years some stand out.  Charles Handy and Dave Snowden are two of my favourites and now I need to add another; Seth Godin…thanks to Steve Clayton who furnished me with a ticket.  It was a fairly high octane performance from Seth as by his own admission he squeezed seven hours of material into only one plus an impressive two hour Q&A.  There was as a result a lot to assimilate so here’s a list of what I remember or more accurately scribbled down in no particular order .  I hope at least some of it makes sense.

- Personality in large organisations is found at the fringes
- Large organisations feel they need to hit a home run every time but the world now doesn’t allow that to happen
- The future is about doing small things really well and growing from there
- Authenticity is all important
- The CD hid the fact the music industry was dying
- With less money about there is less noise
- We are in a new Industrial Revolution
- In organisations the middle is about the status quo
- For serious change you need to ignore the middle
- Ideas that spread win
- Marketing is normally about interrupting
- The TV Industrial Complex’s days are numbered
- Harrods in empty not because of the economy but because it’s boring
- We deal with clutter with more clutter
- When you get to the edge everything gets easier
- The Scion xB out sold the xA three to one
- We are all in the fashion business
- The internet doesn’t care about you
- The internet directly connects you to consumers
- The internet means individuals have more power
- The internet says ‘I want it now’
- Be internet friendly
- Remember the ‘Long tail’
- Everyone has their own channel
- Connect people
- It’s not about how many but who?
- Gatekeepers are less important than they’ve ever been
- Talk to people who want to listen
- Remember the ‘Seinfield Curve’, be scarce or ubiquitous
- People like people who like the things they like
- Only 1 in 50,000 heretics get burnt at the stake
- Find people who want to follow
- Always be clear and honest about what you do
- Seth doesn’t watch TV, go to meetings or Twitter?
- Tribes are people with the same mission
- Tribes will split when the mission is over and create new missions
- Marketing is not evil but there are evil marketers
- Most organisations aren’t as stuck as they think
- What story can you create that’s true and scarce?

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