Poke The Box Book Summary: Taking Initiative At Work & Life

by Accessory To Success December 23, 2020

Poke The Box Book Summary: Taking Initiative At Work & Life

Listen To This Article

A Book About Taking Initiative In Life & Work

In Poke the Box, Seth Godin makes all efforts to convince readers to ‘get started’ and to take action. Tony Robbins has rightly said, “The path to success is to take massive, determined action.”

Godin’s shortest book, called a manifesto, urges you to initiate and innovate. It is easy to read, contains positive snippets of advice, many quotable passages, and gives you the right kick in the butt to quickly get moving in life.

"Imagine that the world had no middlemen, no publishers, no bosses, no HR folks, no one telling you what you couldn't do. If you lived in that world, what would you do? Go. Do that." – the statement sets the tone of the book and you delve right into this refreshing motivational book. You will find that this was the pep talk you needed.


How To Take Action & Why

  • Life is a buzzer box. Poke it.
  • Just "Start Stuff." Start being an initiator right now.
  • Draw maps. Initiate the new. Be brave. Do not just be a follower of maps.
  • Failure is a by-product of ‘doing’. Failure is a great teacher. Many failures make a winner.
  • Resistance is nothing but fear. Extinguish fear from the psyche.
  • Ego is not a villain.
  • Cost of poking the box is less than the cost of doing nothing. Poke away.
Poke the Box

Featured In This Review

Poke the Box

$21.00

Trying to find a way to get moving on a new idea? This book will inspire action and get you moving.

SHOP NOW

Poke The Box Book Summary

Seth Godin says Poke the Box, is a “Manifesto about Starting”. It is a highly relevant book for every single one of us and especially for managers and entrepreneurs. It imparts life wisdom in a refreshing way. Take initiative to start, finish and ship often.

Drawing on his own childhood memories, Godin came up with the unusual title. As a kid, his uncle had designed for him a buzzer box. It was a box with switches, lights, and other controls. Poking different switches and controls would lead to different outcomes like blinking lights, buzzing sounds, etc. This teaches a child that different actions have different outcomes. He learns.

Poke The Box Book Summary by Seth Godin Quote 1

Another great example from the book on this is a question about computer programmers. Is there any guarantee that they will learn or get good? All programmers learn the exact same way: trial and error. More appropriately for this book summary they ‘poke the box’.

It is all if this then that (IFTT). Make a change and see what happens. Make another change and look again. They keep poking the buzzer box until they learn how it all works. This of course is a real example but also a metaphor for any other vocation.


Want to buy a book review like this?
Click here to learn how to get your book reviewed!

LEARN MORE


Godin urges us to just start. It is more important than being right or perfect. Feel inspired and encouraged to begin taking action. As an entrepreneur, encourage and empower employees to act and initiate action. In other words: ‘Poke the Box’. He wrote another book more dedicated to becoming important at your work and it is titled Linchpin.

Poke The Box Book Summary by Seth Godin Quote 2

Educational institutions, family, and social environment, teach us to follow the norm. We are provided roadmaps in life and told to follow them, as straying may lead to danger and failure. Godin urges his readers to be brave enough to draw your own map and chart your own journey.

Do not be a follower. Be a leader. Initiate even if you have little or no authority. Draw your own map which other people will follow. He says, “Please stop waiting for a map. We reward those who draw maps, not those who follow them." A wonderful book that drives this point home is about the rise of Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built.

Godin says, "The more you do, the more you fail...The person who fails the most usually wins." Anticipate and welcome failure. It is but a stepping stone to success. You learn a lesson and get better.

Failure is rarely fatal. It is the hallmark of a person strong enough to strike out on his own and navigate unknown paths. This person is an ‘initiator’ and will face challenges like being wrong, being foolish, wasting time, etc. These challenges will only hone the initiator into becoming a winner.

Poke The Box Book Summary by Seth Godin Quote 3

Failure is only short term and temporary as long as you continue to create and ship innovative ideas. A couple other legendary books about failure are The Innovator's Dilemma and Antifragile.

Fear takes the form of ‘The Resistance’. The best opportunities are lost when we fear. Resistance has sabotaged many great chances.

Our “lizard brain” (from his book Linchpin) is always holding us back. Godin says this about resistance/fear - "Naming it helps you befriend it, and befriending it helps you ignore it...The purpose of this manifesto is not to magically extinguish your fear. It's to call its bluff."

Ignore your lizard brain. Remember, the cost of poking the box is less than the cost of not doing anything. The boundary is in your head, not in the action. To tackle fear and understand how to leverage failure read the book Antifragile.

Poke The Box Book Summary by Seth Godin Quote 4

While Simon Sinek’s best selling book Ego Is The Enemy might suggest that ego is a negative, Godin has an interesting take on ego. He says over time, the word ‘Ego’ has taken on a nasty connotation. He pushes the reader not to view ego as a villain. He believes that ego is okay. It pushes you to be an initiator. Ego is good as long as it does not seek credit.“Tell your ego that the best way to get something shipped is to let other people take the credit.” A lesson fully supported by Navy SEAL Jocko Willink in his book Extreme Ownership.

Be an initiator wherever you are in your organization's hierarchy. Reject the tyranny of picked (picked by an investor, picked for a promotion, picked to lead a project). Pick yourself. Never think of starting ‘soon’. Start NOW. If you enjoy Poke The Box, you will likely enjoy the book Be Fearless as it is on the same vein.

About The Author Seth Godin

Seth Godin has accomplished so much – author of 19 bestsellers, over 7,000 blog posts, a most wanted marketing guru, founder of several companies, popular speaker and trendsetter. Most of all, he is a teacher.

His books have a depth of concepts and have stood the test of time. They have been translated into 35 languages. He founded two companies, Squidoo and Yoyodyne (acquired by Yahoo!).

In 2013, Seth was one of just three professionals inducted into the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame. In May 2018, he was inducted into the Marketing Hall of Fame as well.

By focusing on everything from effective marketing and leadership, to the spread of ideas and changing everything, Seth has been able to motivate and inspire countless people around the world.

It is a small wonder that at age 60, his estimated net worth is about $60 million.



Want to buy a book review like this?
Click here to learn how to get your book reviewed!

LEARN MORE


Accessory To Success
Accessory To Success


Leave a comment

Comments will be approved before showing up.


Also in Books

Driven Book Summary by Stephen Fisher
Driven Book Summary by Stephen Fisher

by Jack Thomas January 14, 2023

Learning to work hard, have a good relationship with people you do not particularly like, develop skills, and recognize how to turn those skills into opportunities to earn money are just some life lessons that Stephen Fisher shares.
Read More
Climbing the Corporate Ladder with Speed Book Summary
Climbing the Corporate Ladder with Speed Book Summary

by Jack Thomas January 09, 2023

People find their careers are confined by organizational structure and may not realize it. They think they are doing what is required to advance and are discouraged when their career does not go where it was envisioned.
Read More
12 Books For Keeping Your Small Business, Small
12 Books For Keeping Your Small Business, Small

by Jack Thomas December 28, 2022

There are several reasons why someone might choose to keep their small business small, and reading books on the subject can provide valuable insights and advice. Some people may prefer the personal connections and sense of community that a small, local business provides, or they may start a small business with the intention of keeping it small in order to avoid the added responsibility and stress of growing a business.
Read More