The Icarus Deception

by Seth Godin

Book Review by Herb Rubenstein

The book, The Icarus Deception, is an excellent book and no review can cover all of the wisdom that Seth Godin shares in this book. So, this review should be considered merely an introduction to the book and a strong recommendation that if you want to read something that can help guide you personally through this new economic and information-centric era, The Icarus Deception is for you.

Seth Godin’s intent in writing this book is very clear. His central message is clear… You are your own boss, if you chose to be so, whether you have a job, or whether you are an entrepreneur, run a nonprofit, or are in any line of work. Work in the past says Godin was about production, efficiency and making stuff. Work today is about creating something of high value that did not exist before. Godin calls this “art” and labels “you” the reader of the book, “the artist,” but the word is not meant to be limited to “art” as we think of it. Artistry, in Godin’s terminology is the creation of something that will help humanity and make you a living. Artistry is not only what you do, it is how you do something.

The Book’s Guidance and Its Title

Icarus’s father Daedalus designed a way to escape from prison by creating wings Icarus could use. Daedalus told his son not to fly too high or the sun would melt the glue and he would fall into the ocean and die. And that is exactly what happened giving us the morale “don’t try to fly too high.”

Godin says Daedalus also told his son not to fly too low, but we do not repeat that part of the story. And we all fly too low, or most of us do. So, Godin wants us to fly high and wants us to know that flying too low also can mean death.

So, how, and why should you fly “high.” Godin gives us lots of answers and this book review discusses some of them. He is not saying be reckless or stupid when you fly.

He stresses the basics. Understand your capabilities and enhance them. Understand your market and be sure that the artistry you bring to your job, your company, your sector, is better than the artistry that is currently in the marketplace. Find the right audience for your work and generally, ignore the critics of your work, if they are the outliers of the response pattern you get. Don’t let the few critics get in your way of doing your great work. If the market or your audience does not buy the art, inventions, innovations, products, etc. that you create or build, then create and build better art.

The Difference Between the Safety Zone and the Comfort Zone

This is a great distinction by Godin. You have heard many people say that something is outside their comfort zone. You know that once you do something (like dive off a diving board, which usually works out well) you are more comfortable doing it a second time and by the nth (meaning lots of times) time you jump off that diving board, you feel pretty comfortable doing it.

Now what is a safety zone and how is that related to the comfort zone? First, since we do not think in terms of a safety zone, we seem to assume that if something is not in our comfort zone, it is also not in our safety zone. Recently a public speaker said she feared public speaking and actually thought she might faint, fall off the stage, and hurt herself. Now she gives hundreds of speeches a year.

Godin says that the safety zone has shrunk since the production economy - where you felt safe building, buying or selling widgets - will contract. Thus, in this instance your comfort zone, where you feel comfortable building, buying and selling widgets, is no longer safe and you are becoming a dinosaur in your own time.

The future safety zone, where you might not feel comfortable yet, but is safe because that is where the future economic activity will be and your real success will be promoted, is where you perform your creativity, your artistry, and create future companies, job opportunities, etc. that help the future and give you a real chance for success. You need to focus on your “safety zone” and when that safety zone is outside of your current comfort zone, just start doing things in the safety zone, but outside your comfort zone and your comfort zone will expand.

So, now is the time to separate your safety zone, your real guide to what you are willing to do, and your comfort zone, which might be the easy stuff for you to do.

With the economy changing, Godin basically is saying, lead or you will be trampled by the new economy. Only artists will survive and thrive in the new economy so dig deep, figure out what art and artistry and creative ideas you want the world to adopt and buy from you or your company or nonprofit, and go and create the future for yourself and the world.

Ordinary People

Godin has figured out that you are probably saying, “Hey, I am not an artist.” So he says in the book ordinary people will be the artists of the future. In the connection economy, connections you make are essential and every one of us can make and keep important connections. So, build your network. Provide some value for your network. For example, I provide seminars (where other people give the presentations) and invite 3,000 people a month to these seminars. They cost virtually nothing, and I provide value to my network and learn something. This is something that anyone can do on any topic in any city at any time and spend no money doing this. This is an example of being an artist, of creating something (this time a seminar) and bringing it into being and sharing it with others.

Presto, not really, just an email list, a few phone calls, and knowing people with really good ideas they want to share. In my safety zone, of course. In my comfort zone, yes, now. In fact, like Dr. Christine McDougall, who suggested I read The Icarus Deception, who is a world-class endurance athlete, say, if she does not exercise almost every day, she starts to feel uncomfortable. If I don’t put on a seminar for the public every month, then I would feel uncomfortable. Thus, what often is out of your comfort zone in the beginning, as time goes on, is not only well within your comfort zone, but not doing it puts you outside of your comfort zone.

Godin makes the argument that the old paradigm was “better safe than sorry” but the new paradigm is “better sorry than safe.”

Tell the World What You Are Making and What You Are Doing

Every product or innovation needs to be “showcased” and shown to the world in its best light for it to succeed. The landscape is crowded with innovation and new products and services, and the ones that get “mindshare” or “attention” are the ones that will be successful. So, don’t be bashful about saying what you are doing that is worthwhile and unique and useful to the world.

Godin uses the Japanese word “kamiwaza” which means to walk like the gods, have hubris, confidence, and courage. “When we strip away self-doubt and artifice, and when we embrace initiative and art, we are left with kamiwaza.” Humility makes us fly too low.

Making art, taking the initiative is not enough. Every day you have to make better art, take smarter initiatives, and figure out a way to sell it and “ship it.” It is essential to make “a connection” to produce better art. We need to connect with others, the market, finance, production, distribution, planning, etc. and we need to understand what everyone else in the world is doing or we might just be copying someone else’s art.

You must bring enthusiasm and your desire to produce excellence to make art and not just do it for the money. And we need to commit to the journey which will not be easy.

There will be critics. Ignore them for the most part, especially if they are not your “audience.” You have to know your audience, who you are producing for, and not be distracted by the critic who will never be part of your audience. You have to be resilient and have grit, perseverance, hardiness, ambition, and flow in the face of critics and those who are apathetic about what you are up to. Find, and define your audience.

“Shun the nonbelievers.” This is a key to success in the connection era. To those who say or suggest you don’t have the talent to make it, remember, that we are not born with talent, we create it. And never blame the system. You cannot change the system. You must work within it to transform it. Never blame others. Life is too short and too quick in the fast lane to pursue the indulgence of blame.

Artists, people like you, need to be brave. You need to know you are special. You are a “one-of-a-kind person” with a one-of-a kind contribution to make in this world. Your own mind, programmed by those who only want you to be mediocre and fit into the production economy, and not the connection economy, will always give you resistance. You only silence that small voice telling you that you can’t do it, by doing it.

How To Connect With Others

To connect, you need to learn to see clearly and to be willing to start with a blank slate as to what you will produce of great value in the world. How do you improve seeing? Make predictions all the time and see if they turn out. Focus on the future and the present at the same time. See the future before others. Notice things you had not noticed before. Abandon that old-world view that keeps you stuck thinking the thoughts you have thought for years, if not decades.

Write, write every day. Share your writings. Get feedback from lots of people. Keep writing. Make clear where you are headed and find people to join you along the way.

You can do all of this even if you have a job. Turn your job into a journey. Avoid meetings if they get in your way of being productive. If you go to a meeting, help others and yourself find solutions quickly so as not to waste everyone’s time. Be efficient, but take time to brainstorm. Don’t listen to complaints or waste time with people who just want to talk and be heard.

Speak in public, often. Secure feedback. Get yourself and your positions and your art known and respected. This is one form of leadership, like writing. Use it in this connected world. Be heard and understood. But, sometimes it will take a long time to be understood. Maybe even seven years!

Conclusion

You will learn along the way, so it is no excuse to say “I don’t know how.” Do what you are capable of in the future, not what you were capable of yesterday.

Godin has written an insightful and inspiring book. Make this a gift for anyone who is stuck, who is not yet seeking to reach his or her potential, and not making the difference that each of us can in the new “connection economy.