The Dip

As part my continuing 2010 goal of reading 24 books this year I picked up Seth Godin’s The Dip. I actually bought it about a year ago with a bunch of other impulse book purchases and just never got around to reading it. But since I had slacked since burning through Ender’s Game I needed a quick read (80 pages) to stay on par at two books a month.

I was able to read this over the course of two plane rides with a layover wedged between. I tend to like short books like this that have one message to deliver and do it quickly. Brevity can also mean that topic doesn’t merit much text and thus is somewhat disposable.

The Dip was more of the former though it did have some of the latter. Godin’s basic pitch is that contrary to popular belief, it is in fact a good idea to quit. We have been taught our whole life that “quitters never win and winners never quit”. Well it turns out winners do quit, they just chose to quit unprofitable projects before they become costly.

I’m on board with this idea and see the value in being able to recognize when to cut your losses and when to power through the turbulence. The problem is that Seth says that you have to recognize which projects are worth the effort and which ones aren’t before you even start them.

A lot can be gained from research and exploration before starting a project, but as a designer I feel the best way to get a feel for something is to start prototyping right away. That way you can make your failures early and learn form them. After sketching, developing, and testing rough prototypes you very quickly get a good understanding of whether a project is worth the time.

The other main theme is “being the best in the world” which is a pretty good motivational speech about how you should find a niche and excel in it. I like to read these “you can do it”  types of of speeches from time to time as they do work, for short stints. Sometimes you can really grab onto a mantra like this and ride it all the way through a project.

Overall I would say it was worth the read just to get some new points of view and maybe a couple pointers you can actually implement. Plus it’s short, so you can read in a day and just keep the ideas that stick.