Seth Godin offers a lot of idea in his role as marketing philosopher, and most offer some germ of wisdom that has the potential to be applied in all walks of life, law included.  Sometimes, however, he comes up with a really boneheaded notion, like this:

Self sufficiency appears to be a worthy goal, but it’s now impossible if you want to actually get anything done.

All our productivity, leverage and insight comes from being part of a community, not apart from it.

The goal, I think, is to figure out how to become more dependent, not less.

Is “autarky” dead, as Godin contends?  Or more to the point, should it be our goal to become more dependent? 

The reason this strikes so close to home is that it’s happening at an alarming rate, that people (and I include lawyers in that group) need for others has grown to co-dependency levels, whether for answers to questions that people could answer for themselves if they exerted minor effort or, worse still, validation from any source available. 

The problem is that many justify their behavior by saying they just enjoy the camaraderie and the ease of getting a little help from their friends.  What’s the problem?  What’s so wrong with being co-dependent?   The problem is that people can’t manage for themselves.  Pull away the security blanket and they crumble.  They need others, just as Godin urges they should, but they can’t manage without them anymore.

The group, or tribe as Godin prefers to call it, is the greatest machine ever made to achieve mediocrity.  For many, that’s a step up from where they would be on their own.  What a sad commentary on people, but the truth is that they aren’t willing to work too hard, think too much, expend a whole lot of energy to do better.  So dependency turns out to be a positive way of life for those who would otherwise firmly hang on to the bottom rung of the ladder.

Others, however, will work hard, think harder and expend whatever energy is needed to accomplish their goals.  They not only don’t they embrace group, but avoid the group’s pressure for conformity.  The group doesn’t want anybody to bust the curve, making the rest of them look bad.  The group can’t tolerate a new, vibrant idea because all ideas must measure up to the lowest common denominator to obtain approval.  This is what dependency brings you.

This isn’t to say that we don’t help each other, cooperate, leverage our own abilities by those of others.  A self-reliant person enjoys the benefits of others when available, and others enjoy the benefits of the self-reliant person in return.  We use each other’s knowledge, experience, contacts, insight to the extent it helps. 

The key, however, is that when the self-reliant individual differs from groupthink, he goes down the path of his own choosing.  He doesn’t sublimate his own ideas to the group, nor does he blame the group when he makes the wrong move.  He assumes responsibility and takes it.

Given the “tribes” that have and continue to form all around us, in the blawgosphere, on twitter or Facebook, maybe LinkedIn or at your office or school, it’s all too easy to wrap oneself up in dependency, slough off personal responsibility and defer to the tribe.  This gives rise to the age of neediness, our willingness to shed our own thoughts, ideas, initiative so that we don’t disrupt the happiness of the tribe.  The ease and validation we receive in return is worth our giving away our independent thought and judgment.

Independent people won’t care what Seth Godin says, which is part of the irony of his push toward the need for dependence.   Codependent people won’t care either, as there was never any chance they would function on their own.  But there remains a group on the cusp of independence who aren’t sure if it’s worth it to work hard, think hard and expend the effort to be an individual.  This group enjoys the warmth of the crowd and seeks its approval, but still has that nagging feeling that they could do better, do more.

Godin’s advice makes perfect sense if you’re sheep, bees, lemmings, and that portion of people who can’t think or function on their own.  It’s not so good for lawyers.  What we do demands the ability to think on our feet, without the approval or advice of the tribe to bolster our insecurities and need for validation. We need to be able to disagree with others when we disagree with them. We need to be capable of providing sound, independent thought.  We need to rise above mediocrity.  This can’t be accomplished while looking around for the warmth of the tribe’s approval.

Enjoy the benefits of the group to the extent it’s actually beneficial, but if you can’t break away from seduction of dependency and exercise independent thought and responsibility, then you’re in trouble.  If you don’t have it in you to tell the tribe to get lost, then you can’t be a lawyer.