So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love
The title of this book, by author and educator Cal Newport, was admittedly stolen from Steve Martin’s quip about how he launched his career as a comedian. What Cal did differently here was dissect and experiment with that statement until he fully formed it into a hypothesis he could prove. Complete with a model he shares that demonstrates the power of this statement, passion is what makes this book so unique and vastly different from other self-help books that scream, “You can do it!”
Yes, he firmly believes you can. However, to achieve your desired outcomes in both your career and life, you need to excel at what you do. And that takes patience and practice.
But don’t lose heart. It’s not as if you must give up your dreams until you’re retired. Instead, he shows you how you can make your dreams (or passion) come to you. By adopting a focused work ethic (any work ethic, please), one can generate career capital. This builds even swifter when you find a specialty within your field and hunker down to dominate the skill.
This capital then turns into marketplace currency, which translates into control, mission, and ultimately results in passion.
Cal shares countless stories, including his own, illustrating failure with the “pursue passion” mindset. Contrastingly, he includes success stories that helped him validate his theory that passion finds you in your quest to become “so good they can’t ignore you.”
My thoughts? Outstanding!
I’ve read this book twice and have used it in my previous corporate life with clients and team members. Now, I re-read this as I entered a new chapter in my life and found an entirely new bundle of gems. This supports my own theory that great books serve you throughout your life’s journey. But back to So Good, because yes, it’s so good and must-read. I took five pages of notes from this book, and some nuggets I’ve posted to my vision board. But the career capital piece—the heart of the book—is spot on. I haven’t met a person whose career is sustained by luck or happenstance. Sure, it can open doors, but only capital will sustain it. And to restate one more time, it’s that critical piece that gives you what you want.
One of the biggest predictors of professional success and fulfillment comes from the years spent in the occupation and the skill level attained through dedicated experience. The competence that grows from these endeavors empowers the individual to exert more control and have a greater voice in how they approach their profession. Therefore, this allows them to create an incredibly fulfilling career. But it’s not all about putting your head down and getting to work. He offers a lot of sage and well-researched advice on how to build your capital at any stage in your career. This “craftsman mindset” builds the capital, then based on economic theory can be exchanged for creativity, impact and control to name a few of the qualities of a fulfilling career.
As I reflect on my work history and that of friends and family, I realize how apt this book’s title is.
When I realized I’d found my passion, had complete control over my career, and was passionate about the work I was doing (and was appropriately compensated for it), I attracted new opportunities. It was all because of career capital. There’s no shortcut.
This is the book you need to read and gift to everyone you care about. Evangelizing hard work, focused attention, talent development, and deliberate practice, So Good They Can’t Ignore You is a must-read for anyone seeking a happier and more fulfilling professional life.
Source: Purchased
Image Courtesy of Grand Central Publishing
