Coming off his wildly successful Steal Like an Artist, in Show Your Work!, Austin Kleon asks you to go beyond just taking inspiration from others. Now it's time to share what you've learned -- or what you are learning, rather. This book is an artist's way of explaining the importance of having a PLN (personal learning network). It's nothing new for me, it's just told from the perspective of an artist rather than a teacher so the different point of view helped further emphasize for me the need to be involved in social networking in order to get your name out there. As Kleon says early in the book, "It sounds a little extreme, but in this day and age, if your work isn't online, it doesn't exist."
Given the work I do right now in social media and how I fell into that job, pretty much everything Austin Kleon says in this book applies to my life, right down to "Imagine if your next boss didn't have to read your resume because he already reads your blog." Putting yourself out there for your profession can mean that opportunities find you rather than the other way around.
Show Your Work! is just another way of saying Use Your Outside Voice -- sort of. Maybe not entirely, but I think the spirit of this book meshes really well with the message of Use Your Outside Voice, which is to stop being silent and to put yourself out there for the sake of your profession.
Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon
Published: March 6, 2014
Publisher: Workman
Pages: 215
Disclosure: Purchased Copy
No comments:
Post a Comment