Table of Contents
Review
The Most Memorable Contents
Why do I agree with the author?
Summary of the Book
Chapter 1 You Don’t Have to Be a Genius.
Chapter 2 Think Process, not Product.
Chapter 3 Share Something Small Every Day.
Chapter 4 Open up Your Cabinet of Curiosities.
Chapter 5 Telling Good Stories.
Chapter 6 Teaching What You Know.
Chapter 7 Don’t Turn into Human Spams.
Chapter 8 Learn to Take a Punch.
Chapter 9 Sell out.
Chapter 10 Stick around.
Review
This is my first book summary. I choose to start from here is because it inspires me to showcase my work and life on the internet to build a worldwide connection and to share the author’s wisdom with as many people as I can. I’m always a private person, but I’m convinced.
This book introduces the idea that one’s work is an endless process that one cycle ends with a sabbatical where another cycle begins short after. It not only tells you the reason why you should share, but also advise you what to offer and how to do it. In addition, the author provides you the insights of all sorts of things you should and shouldn’t do telling from his experience with honest words, finishing the book with a good beginning and thoughtful ending.
The Most Memorable Contents
Scenius not genius.
Begin again, not start over.
Why do I agree with the author?
I’ve already started building my website. After having read the book, I tried to persuade one of my friends writing traveling blogs and another one setting up website for his drawings and work. According to my own experience, it makes me feel a sense of belonging. It’s not the work you share per se that helps you create connections. It’s how people react to it. You’re not the only contributor, but everyone’s playing a role. I can feel the happiness every time I’m writing a blog sharing what I just learnt. This might help other learners, and it would be even better if they also help me by giving me critiques. Furthermore, it helps me improve myself. I bear the responsibility to update my blogs, especially when there are mistakes. I certainly don’t want to mislead other learners. Also, it keeps me learning. Otherwise, I’ll soon have nothing to share.
Summary of the Book
Chapter 1 You Don’t Have to Be a Genius.
Being good at what you do is not enough. Also be discoverable by sharing. In this way, you upscale the game of networking, self-promotion and even resume. You get the care from them, and they get the influence from you. Everyone benefits from this.
Scenius not Genius. A genius is one person, while a scenius is not. Creativity as a super talent is not the unique possession of the few isolated minds of geniuses. Rather, it’s the result of collaboration of great individuals – a “scenius”, an “ecology of talent”. It’s “the result of a mind connected to other minds”. Now, it’s the best time ever to join a scenius due to the convenience of the internet.
Be an Amateur. Amateurs are on their way of new discoveries. They are full of enthusiasm. They don’t worry about making mistakes. They find new ideas by trying solving problems in whatever way they can find. It’s the spirit the professionals need. Share your work and that will help you find your voice. Read obituaries and imagine as if every day is the last day.
Chapter 2 Think Process, not Product.
Take people behind the scenes. Take painting as an example. It can mean both the final product and the painting process. Traditionally, the process of creation is reserved to the artist him/herself, and only the products are brought to the audience. However, “human beings are interested in other human beings and what other human beings do”. Designers Dan Provost and Tom Gerhardt state “People really do want to see how the sausage gets made… By putting things out there, consistently, you can form a relationship with your customers. It allows them to see the person behind the products.”
Be a documentarian of what you do. Share the process of the work is more valuable than the products, especially when the products are intangible. Follow the steps would make easy sharing:
- Make some media of the bits and scraps of the process of your work.
- Jot down your thoughts in a notebook or audio recorder.
- Take photos and shoot videos at different stages of your work, to keep the track, not make art.
Even if you’re not going to share, the documents will help you process through the work easily.
Chapter 3 Share Something Small Every Day.
Send out a daily dispatch. “Forget about decades, forget about years, and forget about months. Focus on days.” Overnight success is too good story to be true without the dedication of years and decades, which is overwhelming. The daily focus is manageable. Share your work daily. If your work is in an early stage, share the inspiration you take. In the middle stage, you can show the work in progress. If the work is done, display the final product and share the experience you gained. If you have lots of projects, simply talk about them, but make sure you share what is relevant – the work.
The “So What?” Test: Remember there’s a purpose for sharing. Share the things you want feedback on, or the things that you think is helpful or entertaining. Ask yourself “SO WHAT?” before you put it on the internet.
Turn your flow into stock and build your website with a good domain name. So far, you’ve got your bits and scratches in your daily sharing and updates – your flow. Then you review and repeat. You turn them into stocks. Recursively, a small snowball becomes a snow man. All those can occur on your own website – a space belongs to you and only you perpetually. You don’t need to know how to code. Buy a web hosting service and buy a domain name such as www.[[your name]].com. Google it and it’s simple. Don’t abandon it for the hottest social network. Let it grow with you and help you build a good name.
Chapter 4 Open up Your Cabinet of Curiosities.
Don’t be a hoarder. It’s okay if the work/collection isn’t that impressive in the beginning. It might even remain that way for a while, but by sharing the work you share your taste/inspiration. This could be more influential than your work.
No guilty pleasures. There’s no big unifying principle for what you can share, so there’s no need to feel that guilty pleasure. You don’t have to save something just for yourself, because the other people’s trash could well be your treasure. The Chinese has a saying like if you are piece of gold you’ll shine sooner or later. Don’t feel guilty. If you truly enjoy something, you should embrace it. Your treasure could be the inspiration of many others, and then you’ll build up connections. Credit is always due. If you share other people’s work, please give them proper credits, to show your respect for their generosity. Proper attribution means leaving the hyperlink that can be directly traced back to the original source. In my example, I … . At last, if you can’t provide a reliable source, apparently you shouldn’t share things from it. You don’t want to mislead your readers.
Chapter 5 Telling Good Stories.
“The truth is, our work doesn’t speak for itself… If you want to be more effective when sharing yourself and your work, you need to become a better storyteller. You need to know what a good story is and how to tell one.”
Structure is everything. “A good one should be tidy, sturdy, and logical.” An example from author John Gardner is “A character wants something, goes after it despite opposition (perhaps including his own doubts), and so arrives at a win, lose, or draw.” A persuasive pitch should have three acts:
- Before: what you want, why, what you’ve done for it.
- Now: your work, your effort, and your resources.
- Future: How your audience can help you.
In act three, you need to share your adventure with your audience. Let them be a part of the journey and a very important part! Let them be the hero who can ship a good ending for your story. Make sure you give them your respect by valuing their time. Use direct and plain language. Be brief.
But how should I introduce yourself (say in a party)? You should always stick to nonfiction: tell the truth/facts with dignity and self-respect. If you’re a designer, then don’t add the word creative to your sentence. Be humble – “Keep it short and sweet.” Meanwhile, you should expect more questions from your listeners, or even blank stares. Be patient and polite. To avoid endless interrogation, imagine yourself explaining your work to small children.
Chapter 6 Teaching What You Know.
Share your trade secret. I’d always wondered that by telling others my secrets whether I’ll be less competitive, and that sounds very likely. This is not the truth. An expert might have many interns over the years. How many of the novice would suddenly be better than the masters just because they know how things work now? They need years of practice and dedication. Besides, by sharing knowledge, you’ll receive feedbacks and bring people closer to you, so you’ll get more knowledge and friends in return.
Chapter 7 Don’t Turn into Human Spams.
Some people never read or never learn from the others, yet they keep sharing their stories. Think about what they actually have to tell! Don’t slowly transit into attention seekers. “If you want fans, you have to be a fan first.”
You want hearts, not eyeballs. “If you want followers, be someone worth following… If you want to be interesting, you have to be interested.” I think the key word here is heart and love.
Keep away from people who make you feel exhausted constantly. Run this vampire Test. If you feel someone or something drain your energy, stay away from them.
Make friends. There are few baseball pitchers know a very skillful technique called knuckleball. Different from many other players, they are never afraid of sharing their secrets with the other knuckleballers no matter which team they play for. They practice the true sports spirit and keep the balance of competition and friendship. You should do the same. In the long process of sharing, you should be able to make lots of friends online. When you have the opportunity, meet them in real life (IRL). “Identify your fellow knuckleballers” and “keep them as close as you can”.
Chapter 8 Learn to Take a Punch
Let Them Take Their Best Shot! I think this chapter is crucial if it’s the fear of criticism that has stopped you from opening up. Don’t worry. I’m with you. I’m quite sensitive to what people have to say about my work, especially when I’m younger. The book suggested five approaches we can do to be tougher:
- Relax and breathe. No one has died from a bad review. Simply learn to accept whatever comes.
- Strengthen your neck. Have you ever heard of this type of silly videos before, where a guy standing on the street asked as many random women as possible out for a date? It’s brutal, but he’ll get better eventually. Similarly, when we put more work out there, we’ll expect more criticism. Naturally, we’ll learn how to defend our feelings. we’ll adapt.
- Roll with the punches. We don’t always have to be passive. They hate something and we can push it further – people see me rolling they hating. “Having your work hated by certain people is a badge of honor.”
- Protect your vulnerable areas. We don’t have to expose every work now if it’s too sensitive. However, deliberately avoiding getting hurt will lead us to miss out the opportunity of connecting with people. A good connection requires honesty.
- Keep your balance. Work could be personal, but it’s not all we have. We need to remind ourselves that we have a real life with people we love, so everything is good.
Don’t feed the trolls. Although feedbacks help get better and grow, we need to distinguish the true feedbacks from trolls. Trolls are resentful and provoking messages, and it have no values. Delete them – “If someone took a dump in your living room, you wouldn’t let it sit there, would you?”
Chapter 9 Sell out.
Even the Renaissance Had to Be Funded. “Some of our most meaningful and most cherished cultural artifacts were made for money.” Don’t be jealous of the other people’s success, especially the people you like. Also, you won’t just stop listening to music just because you have to pay. If you need fundings, there are many ways or platforms to do it online. You need to be a confident seller and charge fairly.
Keep a Mailing List. No matter you like emails or not, it’s a good way to keep connections with people. An email address usually lasts very long. You don’t have to spend all your time on it. Just find a good office hour to reply. If you think what I’m doing is interesting, you can subscribe to it. Don’t worry. I won’t spam you. I promise.
Make More Work for Yourself. This not all about money, you see. You don’t have to sacrifice your other opportunities in order to make the money. A good journey means you should seize the chance to expand your work. Be visionary and learn to say No.
Chapter 10 Stick around.
Don’t Quit Your Show. The word “chain-smoking” can be used to describe the author’s working ethics. You don’t ever quit. Instead, use a break or sabbatical to mark the end of a cycle of your work or the beginning of another cycle. You use the sabbatical to contemplate the past and the future, replenishing the fuel. Work is an endless process, and from here you begin again, not start over.