The Icarus Deception

I finally finished the first book on my summer reading list: Seth Godin's The Icarus Deception.

Like his other books that I've read, namely Linchpin and The Dip, it was short and quite easy to read.  Godin's style is to divide each section into neatly titled and short sections.  It's almost like reading a series of blog entries.  So if you've read a lot of his work, it kind of get repetitive.  But it was very enjoyable.

The core thesis of the book is this - in an industrialized economy we have been told to not aim too high.     To just show up, put in our eight hours, do what we're told, and after 30 years we'll have a nice retirement.  Godin argues the folks who benefit the most from that are the industrialists, not the workers, for the work tends to be dehumanizing.

But in the new connection economy, we're fools to keep that same attitude.  Godin talks about the old fable of Icarus - he and his son (Icarus) build wings out of wax to escape. We all know what happens: Icarus: he doesn't like to his father's advice.  He flies too high and gets too close to the sun.  His wings melt and he plummets into the sea where he drowns.  Godin notes that no one ever notes the first part of the father's advice: don't fly too low (for the waves will get you).  Instead, all we remember about the Icarus myth is not too aim our sights too high.

And Godin argues that works well for the industrialized economy.  But you're a fool not to aim as high as you possibly can in the new connection economy.

Why?

Well, Godin argues that the only way to make a fulfilling living in the new economy is to create "art."  By art, Godin doesn't mean painting, play, or music.  Godin's definition of art is anything that connects or touches or moves another human being.

He argues this is what we are willing to pay for now in the new economy.

And I think (surprise, surprise) that he's right.

I forgo Wal-Mart now when I really need something because I know I can have a human connection at Hardware Hank or Hugos as opposed to avoiding humans almost completely at Wal-Mart (and why do you think they put in all of those self-check outs?  It's another way to avoid human contact.  And that's a shame.)

The trick, Godin argues, is how can you humanize things that don't seem to involve any art or humanity at all.

Here's two examples - Apple and Narrable.

A few months ago, I noticed an email from apple talking about some recent purchases to my iTunes account.  I didn't recognize the band's name.  I asked KoKo, and she didn't order any.  So I emailed apple and told them that it was a fraudulent purchase.

Then Kristie told me that she had ordered them from her phone.  And she never does that!

So I had to send another email to apple.  Within minutes I got a response.  Then in the evening I got another response (yes it might have been a stock/automated response, but the thing was that apple personalized it enough to make it feel humanized.  It felt like Godin's definition of art).  It said "Kurt, we realize your wife made the purchase.  We hope she enjoys her music."

Another example, two weeks ago I registered for a narrable account.  It allows me to upload pictures and put audio over them.  I see this as a great way for students to create digital narratives.

A few days later, I received another stock/automated email asking me what I thought of narrable.  This supposedly came from the creator.  So I answered his questions, mentioning that I was a teacher and was eager to try this new site with my students to create digital narratives.  A few hours later, the developer emailed me back and said that I'd be happy to note that they have new features for educators and to email him with any suggestions.

That contact, that connection, in Godin's opinion, is art.  That human connection is what will break a company wide open in this flat world of ours.

Maybe it's a local company who sends out their employees to deliver their catalogs to local businesses and those employees stop and visit and give future or potential customers a hint of the humanity that lies behind their products and at the heart of their business.  I would argue that having the ability to go out into the community and visit and intrigue and connect with future/potential customers is an art.

And that kind of connection is what Godin argues for us all to do (or learn how to do or remember how to do) in The Icarus Deception.