Seth Godin

some axes for you to choose from

the patterns are established, time is precious, and risk is something to be feared.

Effective marketers have the courage to create tension.

When you arrive on the scene with your story, with the solution you have in mind, do you also create tension? If you don’t, the status quo is likely to survive.

The status quo doesn’t shift because you’re right. It shifts because the culture changes.

And the engine of culture is status.

We spend a lot of time paying attention to status.

status roles, the hidden (but obvious) drivers of all elements of culture.

Status is our position in the hierarchy.

It’s also our perception of that position.

Status protects us.

Status helps us get what we want.

Status gives us the leverage to make change happen.

Status is a place to hide.

Status can be a gift or a burden.

Status creates a narrative that changes our perceived options, alters our choices, and undermines (or supports) our future.

And the desire to change our status, or to protect it, drives almost everything we do.

When the marketer shows up with her new idea, her opportunity, the offer to make change happen—every time, it’s a challenge to our status.

Shame is the status killer.