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	<title>Jeff Stephens &#187; Books I&#8217;m reading</title>
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		<title>Create something that can get criticized</title>
		<link>http://www.jeff-stephens.com/2010/06/create-something-that-can-get-criticized/</link>
		<comments>http://www.jeff-stephens.com/2010/06/create-something-that-can-get-criticized/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:41:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jeff Stephens</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Banking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Books I'm reading]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Innovation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jeff Stephens]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Non-technical innovation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.jeff-stephens.com/?p=102</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I have long argued&#8211;to creatives, my clients and bankers and credit union folks at large&#8211;that it&#8217;s better to create something that some people will LOVE, others will HATE&#8230;than to create something that people are indifferent to.  That stands true whether you are creating an ad for the local newspaper, a brand for a new financial [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I have long argued&#8211;to creatives, my clients and bankers and credit union folks at large&#8211;that it&#8217;s better to create something that some people will LOVE, others will HATE&#8230;than to create something that people are indifferent to.  That stands true whether you are creating an ad for the local newspaper, a brand for a new financial institution, or a presentation you will give at a conference.  You need to polarize people&#8211;if you leave anyone indifferent, you have wasted your time.</p>
<p>As I was reading <em><a title="tribes by seth godin" href="http://www.amazon.com/Tribes-We-Need-You-Lead/dp/1591842336/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1277141745&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank">Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us</a></em> by <a title="seth godin" href="http://www.sethgodin.com" target="_blank">Seth Godin</a> the other day (a book that&#8217;s been on my list forever, and I&#8217;ve finally gotten to), I realized Seth had given me a new way to phrase my message: create something that can get criticized. Our whole business culture is based on the idea of not getting criticized&#8211;the idea that criticism is a bad thing, to be avoided.  The truth is that if you want to change the world (which I&#8217;m assuming you do&#8211;if not, you might want to unsubscribe from this blog), you WANT to get criticized. Because when you get criticized, it means you&#8217;ve created something WORTH reacting to.  Most ideas and work is so boring that nobody reacts, because it&#8217;s not worthy of a reaction.</p>
<p>What can you create today that will get criticized&#8230;and therefore noticed?</p>
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		<title>What are you reading?</title>
		<link>http://www.jeff-stephens.com/2009/11/what-are-you-reading/</link>
		<comments>http://www.jeff-stephens.com/2009/11/what-are-you-reading/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:53:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jeff Stephens</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Books I'm reading]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jeff Stephens]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.jeff-stephens.com/?p=43</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Besides the Twilight series, what are you reading right now?  If you&#8217;re a banker, are you reading books about banking?  Or are you reading books about business, entrepreneurship and social phenomena? I hope it&#8217;s the latter.
I&#8217;m a firm believer that real entrepreneurs learn what other industries are doing, and then ask one important [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Besides the Twilight series, what are you reading right now?  If you&#8217;re a banker, are you reading books about banking?  Or are you reading books about business, entrepreneurship and social phenomena? I hope it&#8217;s the latter.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m a firm believer that real entrepreneurs learn what other industries are doing, and then ask one important question: &#8220;how can I apply this to my business?&#8221;  I do that repeatedly, and it&#8217;s literally changed my life.</p>
<p>I plan to have &#8220;what are you reading&#8221; as a recurring feature of my blog. Why?  Because the best new ideas come from places that have nothing to do with the business you&#8217;re in?</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">So let&#8217;s start now.  Here&#8217;s what I&#8217;m reading today:  <a title="Six Pixels of Separation" href="http://www.amazon.com/Six-Pixels-Separation-Connected-Everyone/dp/0446548235/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1257996758&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank">Six Pixels of Separation</a>, by Mitch Joel.  I recently got done reading <a title="Crush It! Gary Vaynerchuk" href="http://www.amazon.com/Crush-Time-Cash-Your-Passion/dp/0061914177/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1257997905&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank">Gary Vaynerchuk&#8217;s book, Crush It!</a>, and was inspired to keep reading more about social media and how people like, well, me, can really harness it.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-66" title="six-pixels-of-separation-book-cover" src="http://www.jeff-stephens.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/six-pixels-of-separation-book-cover1.jpg" alt="six-pixels-of-separation-book-cover" width="113" height="170" /></p>
<p>I&#8217;ll let you know how it is.  And most importantly, what I&#8217;m learning from it.</p>
<p>Last but not least, do you use GoodReads?  <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1519897">Friend me up.</a></p>
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