What Does the Average Person Say About Your Work?

 If you read Seth Godin’s blog, you probably saw the recent post that talked about how easy it is to manipulate the New York Times’ bestseller list.  Said Seth:

It doesn't cost much to scam it and it's pretty straightforward to buy your way onto the list I know authors who have done this and consultants who sell this service. As a result of this distortion, the books on the list get more promoted, and thus sell more copies. It's not pretty but it's true.

This really got me thinking.  I am gearing up to publish my sixth book in 2011.  My books have been printed through a variety of channels from huge, traditional, New York-based conglomerates to small association presses.  And since the beginning, my goal has been to have a bestseller.

But why?  If you believe what Seth says – and he’s a bestselling author himself – being on the bestseller list doesn’t actually mean much because it’s not a true measurement of how much your audience likes the book. Ever since my bestselling goal was debunked, I’ve been working on reframing how I define success as an author.

I decided that success as an author means that readers regularly contact me to tell me how much one of my books helped them.  It means that a book is useful enough that I am able to pin a whole career, with multiple revenue streams, on its content.

How do you define success at your job?  Do you rely on one executive’s very subjective opinion, or do you take into account your colleagues’ opinions?  If you walked into a room of fellow employees or clients and asked a random person how they felt about your work, what would be the feedback?  Having a golden reputation among those who see you in action every day, is, in my opinion, more valuable that a one-time award or arbitrary promotion from a boss you never see.  What do you think?

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.

Comments

[DC Jobs]

Developing your own internal standards of what you would count as a success sounds like a very healthy and positive change in perspective. It probably takes a lot more creativity and ingenuity to be the guerrilla success you have described then it does to buy your way to the top.

[Dawn Lennon]

I'm delighted to find your blog and this particular post. I read, with great interest, Seth's big reveal about the bestseller list since I too published a book. Why was I not surprised about how this worked? After all my years in corporate and all that I've blogged about the backstory to most successes, I was caught on this one.

I love your perspective about success in the face of this new insight. You're so right that it's about the impact made on the lives of readers that really matters. As trite as it may sound, even if only one person's career is made easier and more successful for my/our words, then that made the writing worth it. After all, for many books I've read along the way, I surely was at least the one!

Thanks, Alexandra. I'm looking forward to following you. I have you on my blogroll now and became a subscriber. ~Dawn

[Vincent]

Hi Alexandra,

Thanks for the thought provoking post. It got me thinking about What happens when two managers of the same project have different definitions of success? What do you do with your own definition of success (if yours is different from both of theirs)?And what do you do while the two managers quibble over the project?

[Alexandra Levit]

@Vincent: Great question. I'd ask the advice of the person you officially report to.

@Dawn: Great to meet you as well. I look forward to checking out your writing!

@DC: I think it takes a lot more mental energy too, but hopefully it's worth it.