You know the first-grader in you laughs every time you hear this commercial.

Kmart – Ship My Pants Commercial

 

S H I P, after all, is a four letter word.

For years, Seth Godin has admonished his followers to “SHIP! Go make something happen.”

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a huge Godin fan, but here’s the deal: some people are all ship, no substance.

“The only purpose of starting is to finish, and while the projects we do are never really finished, they must ship.” Linchpin

“Starting means you are going to finish. If it doesn’t ship, you’ve failed. You haven’t poked the box, if the box doesn’t realize it’s been poked.” Poke the Box

Every book that Godin has written since Linchpin is full of ship, and the message is undoubtedly important, to some. Not every product should ship without a little more moron testing (i.e. yard darts). Not every cleaner should ship (i.e. magic eraser baby wipes). Not every blog post should be published (i.e. half of the drivel that I publish). Not every bulk mail campaign should be sent.

There’s a critical component in the production process, and yes absolutely it’s a bit of a leviathan. That impediment of planning, producing and testing separates the exceptional from the marginal. In an oversaturated world, we have about all the ship we can handle. Let’s craft some things of beauty that we can take pride in, and, well, a little less ship.