The wisdom of Seth Godin

"The largest enemy of change and leadership isn't a 'no.'
"It's a 'not yet.' "

Seth Godin (b. 1960)

Entrepreneur and author

I'm not Seth Godin's biggest fan, some of his popular public pronouncements are a bit too culturally kitschy for me. For example, Godin says that mass marketing is dead, and tribes are back as a de facto social unit. Go with that, or not, your choice….obviously, you should at least try reading his 2008 book: "Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us."






The quote above comes from that book, and here's the whole passage:

"The largest enemy of change and leadership isn't a 'no.'
"It's a 'not yet.'
" 'Not yet' is the safest, easiest way to forestall change. 'Not yet' gives the status quo a chance to regroup and put off the inevitable for just a little while longer. Change almost never fails because it's too early. It almost always fails because it's too late."

Seems to me that "not yet" is almost always a lie unless it's followed by a persuasive "because…", and, when we're talking about real change,  most of the "because…" gambits I've heard are more or less phony.


Gandhi talks about change

Climate change, "not yet" is so wrong.....