Seth Godin2012The best of his blog, 2006–2012
Stop getting your ducks in a row. Pick one duck, decide what you'll do with it, and ship it.
The big idea
A thick, browsable collection of the best of Seth Godin's daily blog from 2006 to 2012, picking up where his earlier collection Small Is the New Big left off. The short pieces circle the ideas of those years: shipping the work, the resistance, tribes, being remarkable and making yourself indispensable. The title post makes the point the rest keep returning to: getting your ducks in a row matters far less than deciding what you will do with the duck.
It reads like a stack of zines rather than a book with an argument that builds. Open it anywhere, take one post, do the thing it provokes, and close it again. The posts are short on purpose: a nudge you can act on the same day.
The provocations below are HourLife paraphrases of ideas the posts keep returning to, not quotations.
Ducks in a row
One duck
One idea, one thing you'll do, one person it's for, one date it ships. Then the next duck.
Six threads that run through the collection. These are themes, not chapter titles.
Interactive · The duck pond
Twelve ducks float in the pond, each with a provocation written on its bottom. Hook one, then answer the only question that matters: whatcha gonna do with it? Give it a ship date and it goes on your docket. Your docket stays in this browser, and it prints as a fold-up zine.
Or pick a duck by number (tap one in the pond works too):
A paraphrase of an idea from the collection.
Reader favourites
Getting your ducks in a row matters far less than deciding what to do with the duck.
The title post is aimed at the people forever preparing, waiting for the right moment. Preparation feels like progress and is safe because it cannot fail. The question that matters is what you will actually do.
Ship: work that never leaves the building does not count.
Godin returns again and again to shipping, finishing and putting the work in front of people. A project at 95 percent is worth nothing to anyone else. Set a date, and let the date win.
The voice telling you to stop is loudest just before you finish.
Godin calls it the resistance, the lizard brain that prefers safety to change. It shows up as one more round of polish or one more meeting. Hearing it is often a sign you are close to something worth shipping.
Nobody is going to pick you, so pick yourself.
Waiting for an editor, a boss or a gatekeeper to give permission is a choice. The tools to publish, build and start are cheap now. Choosing yourself is the first move, not the last.
Remarkable means worth making a remark about.
Ordinary work is invisible because nobody bothers to talk about it. Godin's test is whether people would tell a friend. If the honest answer is no, make it stranger, smaller or better until it is yes.
A small group of people who care beats a huge crowd who don't.
Tribes are a recurring theme: lead the few who want what you make rather than chasing everyone. A smallest viable audience is easier to serve and more likely to spread the word. Know who they are by name.
The safe choice is often the risky one, because average is easy to replace.
Doing exactly what you are told makes you interchangeable. The posts on being a linchpin argue that the real security is in work only you would do. Take one small risk this week that average would not.
Read it one post at a time: one provocation, one action, then close the book.
The collection is meant to be dipped into, not read straight through. Its value is the nudge, not the page count. Take one post, decide what you will do with it, and stop reading until you have.
Your move
Write down one idea or project you have been organizing instead of doing. That is your duck for this month.
Choose a date within thirty days when the duck goes out into the world, and tell one person what and when.
Write the names, or a precise description, of the ten people your duck is really for.
Describe what you are shipping in a sentence someone would repeat to a friend. If nobody would, rework the idea, not the sentence.
Find one task on your list that only prepares to prepare, and cross it out for good.
Each week, put one finished thing in front of someone: a post, a draft, a prototype or an offer.
When you read a short provocation, Godin's or anyone's, write the one action it prompts before you read the next.
When you notice the urge to polish, wait or ask permission, write it down with the date. Then ship anyway.
Stop lining them up. Pick one duck and do something with it before Friday.HourLife note after Seth Godin Back to the library
Pick setup actions and daily habits from Whatcha Gonna Do with That Duck?, choose a start date, and download a printable checklist with real calendar pages.
A thick, browsable collection of the best of Seth Godin's daily blog from 2006 to 2012, picking up where his earlier collection Small Is the New Big left off. The short pieces circle the ideas of those years: shipping the work, the resistance, tribes, being remarkable and making yourself indispensable. The title post makes the point the rest keep returning to: getting your ducks in a row matters far less than...
Readers on HourLife most often highlight ideas such as: “Getting your ducks in a row matters far less than deciding what to do with the duck.” “Ship: work that never leaves the building does not count.” “The voice telling you to stop is loudest just before you finish.”
It's a strong pick for readers exploring Build a Career You're Proud Of, Creativity & Making, and Stop Wasting Your Life. HourLife distills its core idea into community-voted insights and one practical action worth trying.
Pick one duck — Write down one idea or project you have been organizing instead of doing. That is your duck for this month.
About five minutes. The HourLife summary distills Whatcha Gonna Do with That Duck? into its core idea, 8 community insights, and 8 practical actions you can apply right away.
One idea from one book and one small habit from another, at 7am where you are. Nothing else, and one link stops it.
Print it, pin it, post it. Ways to take Whatcha Gonna Do with That Duck? off the screen and into the world.
The core idea, key takeaways, and how to apply Whatcha Gonna Do with That Duck?, as one clean, readable page.
Read summaryEvery action from this page as a printable to-do list, with a 7-day tracker.
Download PDFA shareable card with the book and its top-voted insight, for saving or posting.
The summary card and every quote card in six sizes: Instagram feed, Story, Pinterest, YouTube thumbnail, phone wallpaper, and link preview.
Save the insights that land, build the habits that stick, and keep what you learn from Whatcha Gonna Do with That Duck? working long after you close the page — inside HourLife.
