Seth Godin is a really smart guy. At least I think so. A few other people do to, which is why he’s one of the top business authors out there.
Seth’s ideas are decidedly different, though. He writes little stream-of-consciousness books with names like “Purple Cow,” “Poke the Box,” “We Are All Weird” and “Tribes.” And he says things that tend to upset the status quo pretty regularly. That’s why I like him. It’s also why the stuff he says make a lot of people REALLY uncomfortable.
Here he is saying some profound stuff about the future of pretty much everything we know. It’s good news or bad news depending on which side of the fence you sit…
A lot of the things he says don’t just apply to business. They apply to other important things too. If you’re sitting on our side of the fence – the Paleo, ancestral health, functional movement, healthy living side – the stuff Seth talks about is good news.
The Industrial Revolution is Over…
What does it mean that the Industrial Revolution is over? For us fringe wackos (I embrace being a fringe wacko…), it means that we can connect with each other and share ideas and insights and information. It also means that we can amplify our ideas and our voice and make an impact. That wasn’t possible 20 years ago – at least, it wasn’t as easy as it is now…
The Assembly Line and the Factory System…
As the Industrial Revolution ends, I think we can start to see some of the absurdity in applying the ideas of interchangeable parts – and interchangeable people – to, well, everything… It’s like that old saying about the hammer: “If your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”
I could continue, I’m sure, but I think you get the picture…
So, where’s the problem?
The problem is, YOUR BODY ISN’T A MACHINE! It’s just NOT!
As the Industrial Age unfolded, here’s how some were thinking about the human body – and I’ll argue that this is how we got into the health mess we’re currently in…
You can admire the use of metaphor and the observation of similarities and connections in Kahn’s work, but I also think it needs to be taken for what it was – idealizing of the Industrial Age. And that’s an age that’s not applicable to where and who were are as a world, as a species and as living beings. At least not anymore…
Leave it to the Germans to systematize and “mechanize” the systems of the body into mechanical processes, huh? Sigh…
What IS the mess we’re in?
We’re in a big mess. I’ll ignore the economy and business stuff for now and just focus on our health and our body, mind and spirit.
The Medical Establishment is all about “The Factory.” You have a huge building with a a bunch of expensive machines, a Standard Operating Procedure for EVERYTHING and a cookie-cutter, factory-processing approach to it all. This disease gets this medicine, that disease gets that one. If you’re depressed it means your brain is broken. If you have a digestive disorder its not related to what you eat and take this pill. It goes on and on and IT’S INSANE. And, God forbid your illness doesn’t fit into a neat little box and a have an appropriate Standard Operating Procedure for its treatment…
So few doctors are doing “art” right now. Art as in, seeing the patient as a human being instead of an unrelated collection of “parts” that are working or broken. And, what’s happening? More and more people are tossing the old model and going more and more for alternative therapies.
Medicine is in a “Race to the Bottom” AND a “Race to the Top.” At the top will be the doctors who actually care and see people as people and not a collection of mechanical “stuff” to be manipulated by drugs and surgery only. At the bottom will be more of the same – 10 minute office visits, insurance ruled treatment, more and more pills and procedures and less and less health. And, of course, diet won’t have anything to do with any of it…
The point is, we need to – and we WILL – be returning to simpler and, at the same time, more complex treatments and models for medicine, healing and the body. We’re already seeing this happening and it will continue…
What’s Next…
We’ve systematized the crap out of everything. We “won” that race to the bottom and we’re paying the price – we have fake, assembly line food, ineffective, assembly line medical care, assembly line globo-gyms…
But, everywhere, small things are growing and thriving. A single person with a blog can change everything. Small and local can now have global reach. It’s all flipped upside down – the “big guys” are spending more and more and being listened to less and less and the “little guys” are spending virtually no money and shaping a new world.
If Seth Godin is right – and I have a feeling he is 😉 – we’ve entered the era of the “artist:”
“My definition of art contains three elements:
- Art is made by a human being.
- Art is created to have an impact, to change someone else.
- Art is a gift. You can sell the souvenir, the canvas, the recording… but the idea itself is free, and the generosity is a critical part of making art.
By my definition, most art has nothing to do with oil paint or marble. Art is what we’re doing when we do our best work.”
– Seth Godin
Small is the New Big…
“Small is the New Big” is yet another book by Seth Godin. He coined the term and here’s how I think it’s going to play out in our little corner of the health and training sphere as the 21st Century unfolds:
The small, artisan warehouse-style gym will continue to become more and more important and influential…
CrossFit was the main force in popularizing the non-gym gym for sure. But you can see how CrossFit HQ has become a lot more “assembly-line like” in the past few years – churning out more CrossFit gyms, more Level 1 trainers, more, more, more – and at an ever lower quality. Thus, the backlash in the community and the defection of many of the best and brightest – the artisans – in the CrossFit community.
The warehouse gym and the one-of-a-kind trainers – the ones who care and are passionate about what they do and who would do it whether they got paid or not – will continue to expand and thrive.
These artisans will continue to create their art – many under the CrossFit banner and many not…
And CrossFit will continue its race to the bottom as it churns out more and more trainers, more and more gyms and more and more injuries… (I talked about some of the issues with the CrossFit/Reebok thing in this blog post: “CrossFit Goes Globo-Gym.”)
Small, Local Food Producers Will Thrive and Grow…
More and more, the smaller operations will thrive. It will be more about the “art” of our foods and those who grow and produce it.
And, Niche Ideas and Niche Publications Will Thrive…
Despite the cries about journalism being dead, there are lots and lots of new niche ideas and journalism spreading. Paleo Magazine is doing great and so are other niche publications like RECOIL and New Pioneer Magazine.
More writing, resources and communities around more and more niche, heretical and revolutionary ideas…
Speaking of Niche Ideas…
“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”
Everything We Care About Will Get Smaller – and Better…
As the mainstream of everything continues to race to the bottom – and smaller niche ideas that had it right for a while try to race to the mainstream and lose what innovation they had – we’ll see more and more niches open up. More revolutionary ideas, more niche products we love, more and more of less and less and smaller and smaller distinctions.
For now, let’s stop thinking of the body – and our care for it – as something we can mechanize, replicate and write down in a manual. Let’s approach or body and our health from the standpoint of artists and lets find and support the artisans who can help us in that…
ttys
Adam
Here’s a Bonus…
Here’s more Seth Godin. This is one of the best talks I’ve heard from him in a while. It’s long, but worth a watch if you like his message…
Dude, very well written article. I LOVE the references to the assembly line in American life and culture. I’ve felt that in theory but never saw it laid out visually so perfectly. I also concur with your vision of the future: small, niche, high quality operations and services vs. big box one size fits all mentality. Godin is indeed a genius and your work here is brilliantly done as well. -Nick
Thanks a ton, Nick! I have to give Godin the credit for the inspiration on this one. Like you, I felt the assembly line thing for a long time, but it was only recently that it came together in my head and I started hunting for pictures to show it visually.
Be well and I’ll talk to you soon!
Adam
Adam-
I am inspired and moved by your thoughts.
Keep it comin’!
Makes my day, Teresa! Thanks 🙂