In The Icarus Deception, he asks us to focus on our art. But why the name the Icarus Deception?
In Greek mythology, Icarus, and his father of Daedalus were imprisoned by King Minos after Daedalus created the labyrinth for the minotaur. But Daedalus was a brilliant craftsman. He created wings made of feathers glued together with wax. Daedalus and Icarus flew away from their captivity.
Before they flew away, Daedalus warned Icarus not to fly too high or the sun would melt his wings. Icarus, however, didn’t listen to his father. Enamored of his wings, he flew too high, the sun melted his wings and he fell into the sea.
We remember Icarus as a warning about pride and arrogance—a warning about flying too high. But, that is only half of the story. Daedalus also warned Icarus about flying too low lest the salt water wet his wings.
Godin wants us to remember the other half of the story. Settling for too little is just as dangerous as attempting too much. He argued that we shouldn’t settle for being a cog in a soulless machine when we should be doing our art.
There is risk with art; perhaps you will not be appreciated. But there is also risk in the perceived safety of the mundane. This is the Icarus deception.
He urges his readers to “Fly closer to the sun.”[i]
What does that mean? It means, engage in your chosen art. Take a risk. You might fail, but that is OK. You also fail if you settle for too little.
How to Avert the Icarus Deception
There are a few steps that keep you from the Icarus deception:
- First, you must recognize the half-truth you have been taught.
- Then, think back to what you learned in You choose your audience and speak to them.
- Next, make your art.
- Finally, don’t worry about the critics.
The critics will keep you flying too close to the ocean. Godin’s advice: “The watchword of the sane artist: Shun the nonbelievers.” He continued: “After you’ve created your art, whatever it is—a service, an idea, an interaction, a performance, a meeting—it’s done. What the audience does with it is out of your control.” [ii] In the words of Nike’s tagline: “Just do it.”
You Can Fly Higher
For most of us, our problem is not that we flew too high, but that we didn’t try to fly higher than we have. Perhaps it was because you bought the half-truth about Icarus. Perhaps you were afraid of the critics. Perhaps it was because you were comfortable working for the machine. Perhaps you were afraid of failure. Whatever the reason, you didn’t do it. But now is your chance. “Your biggest failure is the thing you dreamed of contributing but didn’t find the guts to do.”[iii]
What About You?
Can you fly higher? How much higher can you fly? How much higher are you willing to fly. The sun is a long way off. You have a lot of room to spread your wings and see what you can do.
References
[i] Godin, S. (2014). Icarus deception: How high will you fly? New York: Portfolio. (p. 91).
[ii] Godin, S. (2014). Icarus deception: How high will you fly? New York: Portfolio. (p. 127).
[iii] Godin, S. (2014). Icarus deception: How high will you fly? New York: Portfolio. (p. 216).
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Dr. Darin Gerdes is a tenured Professor of Management in the College of Business at Charleston Southern University. All ideas expressed on www.daringerdes.com are his own.
This post was originally created for Great Business Networking (GBN), a networking organization for business professionals where Dr. Gerdes is the Director of Education.
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