I’m going to let you in on an exciting little secret involving A Lunchtime MBA and marketing superstar and masterful author, Seth Godin.
I must confess to being somewhat of a “fan boy” of Seth Godin because his books have shaped my thinking, especially in my last role before starting The MBA School Of MBA Credentials, when I was Chief Pasta Puller at San Elmo Pasta here in Adelaide.
Seth’s book, Linchpin, inspired me to invest in steampunk inspired computers and office machines for the School, so we can be visibly reminded of the value of “the linchpin” every day when learning or teaching.
And his book, Purple Cow, certainly changed my mind in relation to GMO. Not only did I start supporting GMO attempts to change the colours of livestock, I gave a grant to two wheat suppliers when at San Elmo, in the hope they could produce for us the first ever Purple Pasta. We even had a tagline for our ads in Women’s Weekly: When mum serves Purple Pasta, she deserves a Purple Heart.
But today’s article is in relation to his book, The Dip. Here’s the central idea:
“At the beginning, when you first start something, it’s fun. Over the next few days and weeks, the rapid learning you experience keeps you going. Whatever your new thing is, it’s easy to stay engaged in it. And then the Dip happens. The Dip is the long slog between starting and mastery. A long slog that’s actually a shortcut, because it gets you where you want to go faster than any other path.” – Seth Godin
When I read this passage, I had to share it with my inner sanctum, and even fellow team members, and we all agreed that our approach to facilitating an MBA course and graduation over one business lunch is a profound “shortcut” of “The Dip” between “starting and mastery”.
It is heartening to know that a marketing hero like Seth Godin can understand the delicious brilliance of A Luncthime MBA and eloquently described the importance of “speeding up” that dip.
Furthermore, Godin hones in on the secret of our success.
Our students are attracted to us because they love a good business lunch, they’re curious about our unique MBA course, and they seek sustanence on many levels. With that background, you can then see how this quote shows the alignment between our thinking and that of Godin:
A woodpecker can tap twenty times on a thousand trees and get nowhere, but stay busy. Or he can tap twenty-thousand times on one tree and get dinner.
Perhaps, there is one point of departure. Godin’s woodpecker, just like MBAs trudging through traditional academic endurance tests, flaps and taps in an overly wasteful and exhausting way compared to our students who only need to sip and swallow through 60 minutes of fine dining and learning.
Pass the dip, please.
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