Hammer Time . . . Again

I use an illustration about airplane oxygen masks in my leadership book. Recently, Ella James heard me share the illustration and then presented it to a ladies group. After the talk, a participant informed her that it wasn't my idea. A similar analogy appeared on Oprah eight years ago.

This was not surprising. Marcus Buckingham and Randy Pausch have used the same idea since my book was published. I guess great minds think alike.

However, it is bittersweet to discover that an idea is not completely original, even if you didn't get it from anyone.

I just finished reading Seth Godin's new book, Tribes*. A lot of his ideas about leadership are similar to mine. He also talks a lot about leaders being different. He calls them heretics. I call them freaks.

He also has a section on why you don't want to be like "most people." I've been working on a similar section for my book. Kind of cool. Kind of disappointing.

And then I checked Seth's blog. Today he has a riff that plays with old saying, "to a person with a hammer, everything looks like a nail." As usual, he turns this conventional wisdom on its head. Here's a sample.

But what if you've decided that in fact, a hammer is exactly the tool that will solve your problem? My advice: hire a guy who only uses a hammer. Odds are, he's pretty good at it.

Finally, proof that someone's getting useful ideas from my blog. OK, probably not. But I do have proof that I posted a message with a similar theme, Get Hammered, back in May.

As Seth explains in his new book, great leaders don't care who gets the credit, as long as the idea spreads and the movement expands. That is a tough lesson to accept when you are trying to build a business, but I think he's right.

Share good ideas. Give them away. Don't hog the credit. Give it away.

Oprah, Marcus and Seth are all doing much better at spreading their ideas. . . for now. But maybe I'm on the right track. That's the way that I'm going to think about it.

* By the way, after ordering Tribes from Amazon.com, I was surprised to get a free pre-release copy from Seth. He wants me to give the other one away. He wants me to share his ideas. He's practicing what he preaches.

Sharing ideas. Creating a movement. Letting profits take care of themselves.

At a time when so many leaders and celebrities are demonstrating such an extreme lack of integrity, I can't help but be impressed.

Comments

[headphones]

Hi Dave,
I totally agree, sharing ideas is bliss. However, in my smallest times, I do get a bit peeved when I realise I wasn't original. Kinda like my late Mom who thought she had invented fitted sheets by sewing elastic on the cot sheets when I was a baby. Or using a crocodile rope to hold me into the car...as the first car seat. Actually..that's a joke...she would have LIKED to use a croc rope though! hheee
Ella

[Seth Godin]

"Start looking for nails..."

well said Dave.