Friday. A photographer friend urges me to join a camera club to get constructive criticism of my photographs, and offers his own time and expertise for that activity.
Saturday. Seth Godin’s blog arrives in my inbox:
Looking for validation . . .
. . . or perhaps, you’re looking to improve.
You can’t do both at the same time.
If it’s perfect, you can’t make it better.
But if you don’t make it better, you’re getting no closer to what you set out to accomplish.
Coincidence? Surely. The universe isn’t really all about me.
Timely? Yes, just as surely.
You can’t do both at the same time.
Every day I have to decide not just what to look at, but what to look for.
Pithy Seth does it again, except that this time I think he’s mistaken. I must do both, if only sequentially. By improving the delivery of Focused Listening I am creating the platform for greater validation by the users. I hope to use that strategy for exponential growth, which may have been inspired by more Seth pith.
Laurna – I wonder whether Seth would distinguish between validation as a human being and validation of our task performance? I read this as being all about the latter.
Interesting distinction, Isabel, but one I find difficult to make it because my performance is part of a lifework that also is a mission. Seth encourages that sort of “bundling” of objectives.
Jim, I think he does that when he is wearing his “marketer” hat, which is somewhat distinct from his “wise philosopher” hat. He knows he is being looked to for practical advice that will have a particular desired outcome. When you study his approach to marketing, he actually does a great deal of both/and reasoning that involves setting priorities. Hopefully, in the end, one will have performed the tasks of engagement well enough to have won the validation of the product one is offering by the “tribe” one has cultivated.
Laurna – Thanks.
Sometimes Seth comes across as a “dualist” — one who sees the world in black/white, either/or terms. More and more, I’m finding I have to think in both/and terms.
Jim T
Jim – Yes, that either/or construction can be useful when making a point, clearly and forcefully, but it’s often not the whole story.