Once you've established yourself as a genius of some sort, you get to go all Zen, and write columns like 'Remember to tie your shoelaces because if you don't, you might trip - now, what are your business's shoelaces?' The more glaringly obvious your insights, the more you'll be lauded as someone who cares about 'the little guy' instead of some high-falutin' elitist. Journalists love this stuff because 'guru' articles write themselves...

In person, Godin is a chameleon, alternating between monkish calm and bursts of hyper-creativity. He looks at my voice recorder with amusement. 'Do you ever listen back to more than the first 15 minutes?' he asks, eyes a-twinkle. No, I sheepishly admit. [...]

As I leave, I feel a gentle hand on my arm. 'Your shoelace is untied,' says Godin. I look down and he's right: it is. I kneel to re-tie it, an almost automatic act; but as I stand up, a wave of realization bursts over me: this is the lesson he's been trying to communicate for the last hour. And it's one that I'll never find in my voice recorder.