Book Review: The Dip, Seth Godin

I finally got around to reading Seth Godin's book The Dip and I have to say, it's a two thumbs up read. It's actually a very challenging book to read. Not a hard or a long book, but a book that really challenges you. Seth's premise, and I agree, is that anything truly worth doing (to you) experiences an initial honeymoon period followed by the dip. The dip is where you have to slog it out to go from one of the many, to one of the few, the top few in what ever market, product, industry, personal talent, skill, job, etc. you are working to be the best at. When you experience the dip, you might quit because it's too hard, without examining whether you truly want what's on the other side, or if you shouldn't have gone down this path in the first place. We also waste too much time on dead end stuff, diversify or quit when what really achieves success is reaching the pinnacle of superstar, #1 or #2, where you now have something that's scarce rather than easy to acquire.

That's why this book is so challenging. I say to myself, yep, I quit that too soon, or, that was a dead end I should have quit. But I also see where grinding it out against the dip and really blasting through it has paid off in situations for me too. I can think of personal situations, products, ideas, companies, teams, talents... all that could apply to each of these scenarios.

Seth points out that you should either do what it takes to make it through the dip, or recognize that your interests or the resources aren't there to make it through the dip and quit. Quit the wrong stuff and focus on the right stuff. Both of those scenarios are good ones. You either succeed or you don't waste time at something you won't - again, both are good choices. It's just when you really aren't doing what it takes, or don't have the resources to reach the other side of the dip, when you're wasting your time.

I saw this multiple times in the security industry. Each year at RSA I would see new companies flame out, blowing money on a super nice booth and graphics, only never to be seen or heard of the next year. Others worked their way up, from the end rows of 10x10 booths for a few years, into the 10x20s, then 20x20s in years later, etc. They were slogging it out through the dip, with every resource they had or applying their resources more cautiously so as not to be one of the flame outs. Then there were others that assembled big war chests of money, who propelled themselves to #1 or #2 because they had a large enough war chest to sustain the push for multiple years, and the chops to eventually get the product right. These latter companies are usually the most difficult ones to catch. If you can pull far ahead enough of the pack, it's much more difficult for others to create the inertia and momentum to catch up.

So how does all this apply to me and you? Well for me, I've already talked about being able to relate to a number of the situations Seth talks about. I also feel like I'm at one of those dips right now, (I say that in a really positive way, btw.) The idea of taking products to market by combining the right product strategy, competitive differentiation, social media, and traditional marketing I feel is where the forefront of building great products and companies are at today.

I love what I do, combining product strategy, creating products, bizdev, writing, professional blogging, deeply understanding customers, seeing where technology is headed, and understanding how it plays into the changing media landscape. Evangelism for what I help create and believe in is what I love to do. But I also feel like there's a lot more to the story to get to the other side of the dip, and that's what excites me. It's a blast applying what I know, and an even bigger blast figuring it out. It's why I do what I do in strategy, evangelist and CTO type roles.

I think you would get a lot out of reading Seth's book. Your dip is probably much different than mine, but what Seth's book does is help you realize or confirm whether you're on the path you should be seeking. Or maybe it's time to change paths, so you will make it through the dip.