Yesterday, I went to the Surrey Chambers Business EXPO in Kempton Park. I was looking for something remarkable, something different that would “hit” me and make me visit the stall.

Two exhibitors who drew my attention as being remarkable.

1. Somethingbig

What is striking are the large bold images especially the Anglepoise table lamp. The pièce de résistance being the Apple iPad. That, also pulled me and others in.

The message I get – “You are going to get something different from these guys. It going to be good. They know what they are doing”

2. JRK Consultants

John Kempton of JRK Consultant. What you see is what you get. These diagrams are those that he does for this clients; not the impersonal Powerpoint images.

The message I get – “He is personal in his interactions; he does not follow a script or template. It is “tailored” to the clients, to the moment”. From my experience, every client is unique.

Seth Godin wrote in his book Purple Cow, if you want to do well in business, you have to be remarkable or be outstanding. You have to differentiate yourself from the competition, or else, you will be the same become a commodity.
For those who have not seen purple cows before, there are quite a collection on the South Bank in London.

Dr Michael Oon

As we know, this world can be roughly separated into 2 groups of people – The capitalist – the people who have the capital and can build the “factories” for the workers to deliver the outputs. The workers who sell their time for work in the factories to deliver the outputs.

Seth Godin understands the current changing world economic environment very clearly and talks about a third group – the linchpins. People who own the means of production of their outputs.

So who are the linchpins?
They are the new class of people who determine their own road map in life. They use their passion to create work and they are adaptable to changes in the political and economical landscape. Most of all, they are extraordinary and enjoy what they do.

But, what have we being brought up with?

Let us look at the current method of training of children.
They are sent to school and disciplined to the system. When they conform, they get better grades. The parents are happy with the child’s progress because the teacher is pleased.
When your grades are good enough, you can go to University or further training.
If you cannot, you drop out of the educational system. It will be difficult to be employed as employers who want you to have “trained” and perform as in the system. Because they have been trained by the system.

When you are trained, you work in little boxes doing the standardised “work” as stated in the protocols within the manuals.
As a result, the country is producing a nation of standardised people. It becomes a sea of mediocrity where the workers do a “same standard work” patterns. Insecurity develops and become fearful of change.

So how do you became a linchpin or become indispensable?

Seth explains in the book what a Linchpin is and how to become one. Interestingly, he goes through the biological reason for the fear of change and then suggests the various approaches and methodologies that can be used to counter this. He also talks about the power of gifts (abundance) and this is the basis of the freemium model of doing business, currently used very successfully on the internet.

Far more importantly, there is a meetup throughout the world on Monday – 14th June 2012 at various locations where all the linchpins can get to know each other. The London meetup

Based on my analysis of the time dimension of Feng Shui, we are currently in the “age” of the individual and the importance of networks; groups of people with like minded interests.

Linchpin (Are you indispensable? How to drive your career and create a remarkable future) – Seth Godin
ISBN – 978-0-7499-5335-5

Dr Michael Oon

Seth Godin starts from the premise that big organisations (corporations and governments) resist change as the organisational structure is to maintain the status quo.

Change happens all the time and stability is an illusion.

At this moment there is a downtrend in advertising, downward price pressure on manufactured goods etc. These organisations remedy this by introducing quality systems, manuals, scripts etc which have in turn put pressure on the working practises of workers. Are they happy with the work?

He makes the observation that people work best when they are happy and have the passion for it.

People with the same interest are forming themselves into groups, especially on the internet where communication is no longer restricted by geography.
However, groups need a leader. A group with a leader becomes a tribe.

When you blog, you are sharing your views. Aren’t your readers part of your tribe?

Seth proves information on creating a tribe and how to get the best from it.

Certainly a worthwhile book for this age and period of time where changes are abound. as this is a juncture of 2 trends, the end of one and the start of a new trend based on Traditional Feng Shui.

Dr Michael Oon