Flattery by Imitation is a Broadcasting Brain feature whereby we take an online presence (well known, obscure, or something in between) and attempt to capture their style in one single paragraph (note: not today!). Today’s post features writer, blogger, speaker, and guru Seth Godin.

Condensed Seth Godin

Businesses don’t understand. Except that they really do.

Businesses crank out widgets at dizzying speeds. Drip, drip, drip, DRIPDRIPDRIPDRIP. Instead of the water dripping out of your faucet, it’s like the output of, say, Niagara Falls.

Businesses try to optimize. First they start by fitting ten widgets into a box. Then fifteen. Then fifty. Then thousands. It’s all about squeezing as much into that box as they can. Except when they’re trying to put in as little as they possibly can.

Trillions and trillions dripped out of factories. More widgets that we can think of.

Widgets aren’t interesting. A purple widget would be odd, but not very interesting. Who wants a widget?

Unless you make the right widget. The one that your tribe tells you to make.

Those who focus their efforts on getting the right widget in the right box in the hands of the right person will always succeed. Even if it’s the only widget they make in a month. If the right person gets the right widget and they become infected and sneeze, they won’t get sick. Except that they will. They’ll be sick in the right way and they’ll infect their friends. And so on.

Always make the right widgets that make people sick. No one ever goes to that edge.

This isn’t a dip – it’s the only game in town.

Kleenex is the new iPod.

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