The Practice book by Seth Godin
Ship Creative Work
The Practice is the 20th book by Seth Godin and I hope it does for you what it did for me when I took a deeper inspection into Seth’s practice of merely shipping the work.
The next section describes the creative practice work I’ve shipped to help New Zealand businesses, in reverse chronological order. Some episodes didn’t work as well as I hoped, others blew my mind on how well they were received. A whole series didn’t quite work as I’d hoped… and along the way there were moments of triumph, elation and purpose.
Get Direction
I met Seth in 2017 at his upstate New York office where he asked how I had my coffee, invited me to try real cacoa bean chocolate and after distilling his sage advice, gave me two books; “Poke The Box” and “We are all Weird”. Our chat and the books were a gift that changed me and changed what happened next.
Keep Shipping
Seth didn’t have the Akimbo podcast at that stage and I hadn’t finished my 100 business owners episode project then either. He challenged me by saying “why stop at 100? why not keep going.” I did stop at 100… for awhile. However after graduating from the altMBA programme in 2017 (another of Seth’s magical inventions) and deciding to play bigger, I found a path to keep going. The initial direction took me back to London, but that journey turned out to be a dead-end. Once back in New Zealand, I wrote the book 100% Kiwi Business using the interviews as material. The front cover of the book (below) shows a squiggly road that reflects success is never linear and that failure is merely a signpost.
Play Bigger
The book landed me the role leading 1,200 NZ business owners via the Buy New Zealand Made Campaign. Exactly the ‘playing bigger’ I’d hoped for. The timeline below shows interviews made possible through the role and highlights the stories of over 300 New Zealand businesses over the last five years.
Not everyone has the privilege of meeting Seth nor do you need it. Get The Practice book.
Start your practice.
Merely ship your work.
Protip: download the Ship It Journal too and hold yourself accountable.
Five Years of Merely Shipping Creative Work
The latest interview project is the A Kiwi Original podcast featuring uniquely Kiwi stories that are contribution to New Zealand’s future. I interview and edit every podcast. Before that, was the Making It New Zealand video series. I created each episode to help Kiwi sees what is manufactured in New Zealand. Before that, The Provenance Marketing Show promoted NZ Made products. Before that, the Ryan Marketing Show interviewed 100 business owners about why they do what they do.
Those 250+ New Zealand business interviews and features have given me a pretty good idea of what New Zealand makes, grows and codes. The practice taught me interviewing skills (and the 22 mistakes not to make), filming and editing skills and how to write a non-fiction book that is worthy of being on the bookshelf of Harvard University. The interviews have launched two books and an academic paper:
New Zealand business books
100% Kiwi Business
100% Kiwi Business book — A book that delivers 9 Kiwi success navigators based on interviews with 100 Kiwi Business owners.
The Kiwi Branding Edge
The Kiwi Branding Edge — A book that shares the way New Zealand makes, grows and manufactures.
Academic Research on the theory of ‘Buy National Campaigns’
Thanks to 14 generous interviewees, I wrote an academic research paper on the theory of ‘Buy National Campaigns’ as it applies to software companies, to contribute to the academic field of knowledge as countries grapple with the benefits and follies of nationalisation, protectionism and globalisation.
2020 — A Kiwi Original podcast
The A Kiwi Original podcast shares uniquely Kiwi stories that are contributing to New Zealand’s future.
Shawn Beck — Skinny Fizz | episode 60
Angus Brown — Arepa | episode 59
Peri Drysdale — Untouched World | episode 58
Toby Skilton — Mutu | episode 57
Stellar Library — Johnny Louie & team | episode 56
Arcanum — Asa Cox | episode 55
Zealandia Honey — Sri Govindaraju | episode 54
Lanaco — Nick Davenport | episode 53
UBCO Bikes — Timothy Allan | episode 52
http://www.akiwioriginal.com/272737/5256814-a-kiwi-original-timothy-allan-ubco-bikes-052
Palliser Ridge — Lisa Portas | episode 51
Episode 50 Milestone | episode 50
At episode 50, I shared a summary of five themes that the A Kiwi Original podcast surfaced during 2020.
- Covid’s impact on business. Both good and bad sharing both opportunity and loss.
- The return to local and the support New Zealanders have provided to manufacturing businesses who employ 1 in 10 Kiwis.
- The calculus of why businesses make in New Zealand, for brand, for trust, for taste, for quality.
- New Zealand’s future opportunities on the land with lower carbon farming and plant medicine, in our cities with better performing buildings, in the digital sphere with AI and in the atmosphere with space planes taking off from Oamaru Airport.
- NZ Coded software is likely to be our biggest export earner within three years and there are clear ways of working that NZ business are adopting.
Dawn Aerospace — Stefan Powell | episode 50
Scottie Chapman — Spring Sheep | episode 49
Bernie Stewart — Canvas Plus Group | episode 48
Josh Comrie — Ambit | episode 47
Michael Carden — Joyous | episode 46
Pattrick Smellie — BusinessDesk | episode 45
Hadleigh Bognuda — EzyVet | episode 44
David Percy — Pertronics | episode 43
Grant Johson — Rocketspark | episode 42
Toby Litten — Parkable | episode 41
Charlie Cooper — BluTui | episode 40
Kate Slavin & Felicity Morgan — Ironclad Pan | episode 39
Jordan McCown — RealAML | episode 38
Dr. Sandra Clair — Artemis | episode 37
Steven Nathan — Timehub | episode 36
Billie-Jo Hohepa Ropiha — | episode 35
Carl Uren — True Fleece | episode 34
Clint Bolderston — Superior Chunky | episode 33
Barry Hantz — Hantz Honey | episode 32
Mat MacMillan — Maker Design Studio | episode 31
Lili Ma — Finelogy | episode 30
Sharlene Caskey — Melora | episode 29
Sarah Barclay — AJ Park | episode28
Ethan Todd — Backlanz | episode 27
Rose Voice — Real Dog Food Company | episode 26
Hoody Time — Droupout Recordings | episode 25
Carl Blackman — Camco | episode 24
Matt Cooke & Daniel Joblin — Starex Manufacturing | episode 23
Hayden Froggatt Mechanical Manufacturing | episode 22
Ollie Law — Bushman Tours | episode 21
Nicola Knobel — My Inner Creative | episode 20
James Burns — Freeflow Pipes | episode 19
Greg Holland Jewellery | episode 18
Shane Rhodes — Aspiring Safety | episode 17
Emma Murphy — Kiwitax | episode 16
Jennifer Del Bel — Downlights | episode 15
Michael Greenstein — Florence Health | episode 14
Simon Berry — Whitestone Cheese | episode 13
Diana Papadopoulous — Booster Financial Services | episode 12
Fiona Robertson — Newflands | episode 11
Peter Cox — Harraways | episode 10
Ben Kepes — Cactus Outdoors | episode 9
Stu Wilson — Modica Group | episode 8
Andy Hamilton — Icehouse | episode 7
Hamish Conway — Amazon Sell Global | episode 6
Belinda Robinson — Ecobeings | episode 5
Deirdre Doran — Agnes & Me | episode 4
Bart De Vries — Limber | episode 3
Christine Langdon — The Good Registry | episode 2
John Burling — Carac Group | episode 1
2019 — The Provenance Marketing Show
The Provenance Marketing Show promoted licensed NZ Made products in video format.
2018 & 2019 — The Making It New Zealand Series
The Making It New Zealand Series featured the making and manufacturing businesses around New Zealand.
Kilwell Fibretube | episode 57
Woolyarns | episode 56
Kraus & Naimer | episode 55
Glenn Jones Art | episode 54
Pertronic Industries | episode 53
Moreton Jewellery | episode 52
Seymours Distribution | episode 51
Celebrating Women in Manufacturing
Rugged Valley | episode 50
Tuki Design Co| episode 49
Jaedon Manufacturing | episode 48
Healthpak | episode 47
Aquacomb | episode 46
Rolla-wipa | episode 45
Aerofast Tiedowns | episode 44
T&R Interior Systems | episode 43
Hansell’s | episode 42
Dynamic Inspection | episode 41
CS For Doors | episode 40
Cactus Outdoor | episode 39
McKinlay Footwear | episode 38
Rock-It Board | episode 37
PakWorld | episode 36
Powerglide | episode 35
Trailer World | episode 34
Goldfields Print & Packaging | episode 33
Ezi-Rest Furniture | episode 32
Weebits | episode 31
Dairy Nutriceuticals | episode 30
simplenakedsoap | episode 29
Seventh Wave Wetsuits | episode 28
The CopyPress | episode 27
Harraways | episode 26
Sutton Tools | episode 25
Whitestone Cheese | episode 24
WMC Trail Tools | episode 23
EPI Plastics | episode 22
Van Lier Nurseries | episode 21
Rainbow Confectionery | episode 20
Felton | episode 19
Hella | episode 18
House of Baddeck | episode 17
Phytomed | episode 16
Independent Lens Specialists | episode 15
NZ Sock Co | episode 14
Oasis Beauty | episode 13
Making It New Zealand Highlights Reel of the first 12 episodes
Fielden Metalworks | episode 12
Earth Sea Sky | episode 11
Goldpine | episode 10
Talley’s Ice Cream | episode 09
Jens Hansen | episode 08
Cibocal Cutting Boards | episode 07
National Candles | episode 06
Taurus Leather | episode 05
Hills Hats | episode 04
Southern Fresh Produce | episode 03
Morrifield Tunnelhouses | episode 02
Robax Products | episode 01
2016 & 2017 — The Ryan Marketing Show
The Ryan Marketing show asked business owners why they do what they do and distilled the insights into a 332 page guide for small business called 100% Kiwi Business.
