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 cest resources
is the spark of initiative in most organisations (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.
Love the ideas in Poke the Box? Be sure to visit TheDominoProject.com for the latest news and special offers.
A Q&A with Seth Godin
Question: What does it mean to Poke the Box?
Seth Godin: Conformity used to be crucial--fitting in, not standing out. Compliance used to be the heart of every
successful organization, every successful career. The reason? We all worked for the system, in the factory, doing what
we were told. Now, though, compliance is no longer a competitive advantage.
Poke the Box is about the spark that brings things to life. We need to be nudged away from conformity and toward
ingenuity, toward answering unknown questions for ourselves. Even if we fail, as I have done many times in my life, we
learn what not to do by experience and doing the new.
This isn’t the same thing as taking a risk. In fact, the riskiest thing we can do right now is nothing.
I’ve had an extraordinary run, creating a dozen nationwide bestsellers, starting Internet companies and giving speeches
around the world. The key thing I bring to the projects I take on is not more talent than most (I don’t) or even more
hours than most (hardly). My contribution is a willingness to poke, to start, to lean into the project and to get it out
the door.
Question: What will I learn from reading Poke the Box?
Seth Godin: Hopefully you will learn lots but do more. Start thinking about when you’ve taken initiative in a way that
really meant something to you and your team, your family. When was the last time you did something for the first time?
How did it feel?
There are no step-by-step how-to instructions in Poke the Box. Instead, you’ll find a series of layers, a foundation
for taking a different approach to your work. Instead of learning to be more compliant, I want to push you to be the one
who takes initiative.
Question: Why did you write this book?
Seth Godin: I’ve been fortunate enough to hear from almost a million people over the years, to talk with CEOs and
bosses and customers around the world. And they all tell me precisely the same thing: it’s the motive force they demand,
the person who will shake things up and move them forward.
Static is not an acceptable state. The status quo is no longer something we want at work or in politics or in any
organization we care about.
The market is just waiting for people to step forward. I wrote the book for those people, the ones who’ve been
hesitating to take the leap.
Question: Why did you start The Domino Project?
Seth Godin: The Domino Project is my latest attempt at "poking." It’s an independent publishing imprint founded by me
and powered by Amazon. This is an rtunity to publish "idea manifestos" committed to readers, rather than being
bookstore friendly. It’s named after the domino effect--where one powerful idea spreads down the line, pushing from
person to person.
I have two audacious goals: I want to change the people who read (not enough do) and I want to change the way books are
published (they’re too hard to find and spread). I honestly believe that a book can change a mind like nothing else, and
that’s our focus. To help anyone to do work they’re proud of and to make a difference.
Question: Why Amazon?
Seth Godin: I partnered with Amazon so we could leverage what we both do best--Amazon is the leader in global
distribution, multiple format production capabilities, and reaching people in the right way, and I want to spread
powerful ideas to the people who want to read them.
For 15 years, Amazon has been building an audience and gaining our trust. Many surveys identify them as the
most-trusted new brand in the world. Now that Amazon is interacting with more people more often, they have a chance to
bring those customers new ideas in innovative ways. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance to bring ideas worth spreading to a
huge and eager audience.
Question: Who is Seth Godin?
Seth Godin: I’m an author, entrepreneur, and a person who starts things.