The problem with taking offense is that it's really hard to figure out what to do with it after you're done using it. Better to just leave it on the table and walk away. Umbrage untaken quietly disappears.
Seth GodinRead
The goal, then, isn't to draw some positioning charts and announce that you have differentiated your product. No, the opportunity is to actually create something that people choose to talk about, regardless of what the competition is doing.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Success lies in creating a product that excites conversation and engagement, not just in theoretical differentiation.
This quote emphasizes that true success in business is not merely about differentiating one's product on paper, such as through marketing or positioning strategies. Instead, it suggests that the real opportunity is to innovate and create offerings that resonate with people on a deeper level, inspiring them to discuss and share experiences about the product, irrespective of competitors.
Themes
SuccessInnovationProductDifferentiationConversation
In practice
Example use cases
During a product launch presentation to inspire creativity among the team.
More from Seth Godin
All quotes →Not adding value is the same as taking it away.
Seth GodinRead
Excellence isn’t about meeting the spec, it’s about setting the spec. It defines what the consumer sees as quality right this minute, and tomorrow, if you’re good, you’ll reset that expectation again
Seth GodinRead
Living with doubt ... is almost always more profitable than living with certainty. _x000D_ People don't like doubt, so they pay money and give up opportunities to avoid it. _x000D_ Entrepreneurshi p is largely about living with doubt. If you need reassurance, you're giving up quite a bit to get it. On the other hand, if you can get in the habit of seeking out uncertainty, you'll have developed a great instinct.
Seth GodinRead
The danger of the Web is that you can go from idea to public announcement in under ten minutes.
Seth GodinRead
Art isn't only a painting. Art is anything that is creative, passionate and personal. Art is the unique work of a human being created to touch another. Art is created to have an impact, to change someone else.
Seth GodinRead
Similar quotes
Accept business only at a price permitting thoroughness. Then do a thorough job, regardless of cost to us.
Arthur C. NielsenRead
No man becomes rich unless he enriches others.
Andrew CarnegieRead
Your diamonds are not in far distant mountains or in yonder seas; they are in your own backyard, if you but dig for them.
Russell ConwellRead
Do you see the consequences of the way we have chosen to think about success? Because we so profoundly personalize success, we miss opportunities to lift others onto the top rung...We are too much in awe of those who succeed and far too dismissive of those who fail. And most of all, we become much too passive. We overlook just how large a role we all play—and by “we” I mean society—in determining who makes it and who doesn’t.
Malcolm GladwellRead
We're worn into grooves by Time - by our habits. In the end, these grooves are going to show whether we've been second-rate or champions, each in his way, in dispatching the affairs of every day. By choosing our habits, we determine the grooves into which Time will wear us; and these are grooves that enrich our lives and make for ease of mind, peace, happiness - achievement.
Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Sr.Read
I had my Aunt Rosie, who was famous and then not, so I got a lesson in fame early on. And I understood how little it has to do with you. And also how you could use it.
George ClooneyRead