Book Review: Poke the Box by Seth Godin

aarmau@gmail.comApril 21, 2011book reflection, book review

Title: Poke the Box
Author: Seth Godin
Author Site


Amazon.com Review

Book Description: If you’re stuck at the starting line, you don’t need more time or permission. You don’t need to wait for a boss’s okay or to be told to push the button; you just need to poke.

Poke the Box is a manifesto by bestselling author Seth Godin that just might make you uncomfortable. It’s a call to action about the initiative you’re taking-– in your job or in your life. Godin knows that one of our scarcest resources is the spark of initiative in most organizations (and most careers)-– the person with the guts to say, “I want to start stuff.”

Poke the Box just may be the kick in the pants you need to shake up your life.  

My Thoughts
READ THIS BOOK! I am a Seth devotee. I came across Seth a few months ago when I read his other book Tribes.  This book opened me up to the world of Seth Godin. I read his blog posts, I am reading more of his books, and take time to listen to what he is saying. I may not always agree, but it gives me the fuel to think about what I can do to make myself better and how I can go about achieving my goals.

I read this book on my Kindle App and when finished I had 40 highlights and 6 notes. There was just too much good stuff to process all at once. What I like best about this book is that it is not a How To program. There is no template to follow. It is simply ideas and thoughts to get you moving in the direction you want to take. The ideas that he suggests are exactly what are missing in society today. From the business world(although that could be argued by some of the amazing things going on) to the school system where parents, teachers, and students are so afraid to “fail”. We have to be so safe that rarely to allow ourselves to try something out and if we fail, learn from it, and move on.

One of my favorite passages from the book is:

“Imagine that the world had no middlemen, no publishers, no bosses, no HR folks, no one telling you what you couldn’t do. If you lived in that world, what would you do? Go. Do that.”

Go do that! Go right now. This is what I am trying to teach my students. Don’t do the conventional. We are in the midst of an independent study project. Don’t give me a PowerPoint. Don’t do a triboard because that is what you have done so many times before and you know people like. Do something different. Make a documentary. Try an experiment. What would you do? I know I would do what I am doing now. Trying to make the changes in my job that I believe are important. Not being afraid of trying something new to see how it unfolds. I have had several projects this year that were a bust. So what? Seth Godin is trying to get this mindset out there. Get started, get out there and try. See what happens

As Seth states in the book “When can you start? Soon is not as good as now.” Get started. Go read this book, find some motivation, leave your fears at the door and get started.

Top book of the year for sure. A wonderful read. Just what I need to reignite my passion for life. Thanks Seth Godin.

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