When There’s No Strength, Sell To Weakness

I was thinking this morning about why nothing works anymore. About how people show up for their job not to do it — but to qualify for the check they now feel entitled to.

I’ve always been hated when I’ve been an employee — by my fellow employees. Why? Because I was there to do work. I didn’t give a damn about what they watched on TV last night, who they slept with over the weekend, or which executive was what kind of bastard (the latter I’d rather figure out on my own — and maybe they were a bastard to you because, you know, you weren’t doing any actual work!).

Scott McKain had a post that triggered all this in my mind today. I read his post yesterday and the slant of it made it stick in my mind. It made me envision all the different workplaces I’ve been in and the workplaces I encounter today — workplaces where no work gets done.

I have to take a ferry to get to Manhattan. At both terminals, our tax dollars are paying for additional security. This security is supposed to be vigilant. Instead, they’re usually all huddled together — talking! About what? Themselves.

It’s all ME ME ME out there now, 24/7/365.

What does any of this have to do with digital books? I’m getting there.

This morning I read a fantastic post by Bob Lefsetz, who recounts his recent time over at the home of Quincy Jones to discuss a new music project being worked on. And Shawn Fanning, who was also there, made a suggestion that was a DOH! Moment for me.

It’s this:

Shawn Fanning blew my mind. The record business pariah talked about the power of gaming. That’s how you get into the mind of the younger generation. Allow them to earn badges, let them feel good about achieving something!

One thing Shawn said was truly brilliant. He wants to quantify our discovery, our dedication. Imagine being able to prove that you were into the band early, before your friends, before everybody else. The Web allows this. That statistic can be registered!

Boldfaced emphasis added by me (me me!).

That is absolutely brilliant.

It feeds into people’s vanity perfectly.

Now we need to use it for digital books and writers too!