378 of 418 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Perfect Book (for the person who needs to be told the obvious), May 22, 2007
This review is from: The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) (Hardcover)
The Dip, by Seth Godin, is a very small book (80 pages) that says, in short:
- Winners quit (regroup. cut their losses, switch gears) whenever necessary on the path to winning.
- Be the best, and the world comes knocking at your door.
- Work through the pain, because the reward is waiting for you further down the road.
If any of these comments/suggestions seem unclear, take at look at The Dip.
If you understand already, you've just saved $12.95.
This is not a "how-to" book. It is meant to be a motivational piece of writing. Work hard... the financial rewards are greatest for the hardest worker. Work through "the dip," or that period where the gains don't seem to be coming as quickly as you'd like. Don't stop running the marathon at mile 25.
Look, the very successful don't read these books. The barely successful can't read these books. So it is written for the somewhat successful, or the person who is looking for "something" else. Here's the shortened version: "Work and study hard. Don't give up. Persevere. However, consider alternatives. Share this book with others."
Don't get me wrong... this is not, in any sense, a bad book, or a book giving bad advice. To me, the advice seems pretty obvious.
Work hard, play hard, and be well.
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68 of 74 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Simple prescription (too simple?), September 6, 2007
This review is from: The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) (Hardcover)
Much of Godin's advice makes sense, although it's not especially original. Know when you're going to quit and have an exit strategy. Don't get stuck in a cul-de-sac: a dead end.
Those who focus on a market or skill do reap greater rewards than those who generalize. Among scholars, picking a tiny slice and expanding will reap big rewards. Remove distractions from your life.
Godin's power curves are very convincing. There is a huge difference between Number 1 and Number 2 when you look at ice cream flavors and box office sales. But sometimes a decision to rank lower can be strategic. Some gurus advise against aiming to be Number 1 or 2 on a search engine, because you'll get more tire-kicking clicks.
Much of Godin's advice makes sense for individual as well as corporate career planning. Most careers have dips. Many people find themselves in cul de sacs. What he calls "the cliff" resembles a comfort zone: "The longer you do it, the harder to quit." As a career consultant, I think the cliff is far more common than Godin suggests.
Two problems with this book:
(1) In real life, it's often hard to distinguish between a cul de sac and a dip and careers often morph from one to the other without warning.
In fact, the book's examples inadvertently demonstrate this ambiguity. On page 38, Godin suggests that the helpful mailroom clerk might rise to CEO. On page 62, Doug gets branded because he's been with the company too long: everyone remembers when he started.
We should note that Jeffrey Pfeffer's book, What Were They Thinking, actually contradicts Godin's tips on pages 38-39: Pfeffer suggests that CEO wannabes *not* suck it up but instead stand out. He argues that the behaviors needed to climb to the top are not those needed to succeed once you've arrived, specifically adding that climbers tend to be disliked by their peers along the way.
(2) I almost stopped reading when I read about Hannah, the law student who became a Supreme Court justice presumably because she worked hard and stayed focused. On page 8, Godin writes that any of 42,000 law graduates could have become Supreme Court justices. Hannah worked hard and made sacrifices to reach this goal.
This statement is simply not accurate. A simple Internet search would have revealed the fact that nearly all Supreme Court clerks tend to come from the top 5 or 6 law schools. As recently as 1998, journalists reported that few women and even fewer minorities were chosen. I suspect age makes a difference as well.
(3) This book is a pithy prescription, deliberately simple so as not to obscure the message. But are we better off when those who want to succeed have to jump through artificial hoops? Do the hoops really encourage the best and the brightest? For example, many experts suggest that education courses discourage many potential teachers, who turn to other fields.
Finally, there really is no happily ever after. Sometimes you can work hard, do everything right and get caught up in mergers and events that are completely unrelated to your performance. Other times you make a casual, easy choice because it sounds like fun and you reap major rewards.
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151 of 183 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Godin is the master communicator of the obvious., May 27, 2007
This review is from: The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) (Hardcover)
OK, I keep buying Godin's books expecting more. But, all I get is content that seems like a well constructed blog posting. Seth is a very good writer and communicator, but this book added zero to my life. It is a very short book about quitting stuff you're not good at and sticking with (or starting) things you're not good at. Life is short. The longer you dwell in mediocrity, the longer it will take you to become exceptional. Contrary to the book's claim, it doesn't really teach you WHEN to quit or when to stick...other than when the goal is worthwhile. Such an examination takes more than just reading some words. There is very little thought-provoking content here. It seems like a summarized rip-off of Marcus Buckhingham and the "strengths" books...which are excellent and unlike this book...may change your life. Godin is well respected in marketing, but how many more collections of blogs (small is the new big), other people's works (purple cow), and short discourses about the obvious can he keep putting out? It's like people who compile ezines.
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