Author: Cal Newport
Cal Newport
Reading time: 18 minutes
Synopsis
These blinks about So Good They Can’t Ignore You (2012) look at how to find a job that brings both success and happiness. Many self-help authors and gurus tell you to search for your calling. But this book says that is not the answer. Instead, it is better to get what is called a “craftsman mindset.” This means learning special skills. With these skills, you can find a good job where you do good work. This will lead to a happy and successful work life.
What’s in it for you: A different way to find the right job.
Have you ever asked yourself if “Follow your passion!” is truly good advice for someone looking for a job? Can everyone really find a calling instead of just a job, by looking deep inside themselves? Or are we just falling for the tricks of self-proclaimed gurus who tell us everyone must find their passion?
These blinks show you a way out of this trap. They offer a much more practical way to be happy and successful at work. You need to learn the right skills and get a “craftsman mindset.”
First, these blinks will look at why “Follow your passion!” is bad advice for many people. They also show how you can act on this idea and move away from the “passion mindset.” You can do this without losing sight of your personal goals.
You will also learn:
- what it takes to become a chess master,
- why you should say no to promotions, and
- what the “adjacent possible” can offer you for your personal mission.
Blink 1 – The Passion Mantra – a sure way to unhappiness.
Our society often tells us we must find our true calling. We should have a job that we are passionate about. Self-help gurus say everyone can find a fulfilling job by following their passions. But is this really smart advice?
The clear answer is “No!” First, most people do not have passions that can be turned into a job. In a 2002 study, Canadian students were asked if they had passions and what they were. 84% said yes and named things like dancing, reading, or skiing. But only 4% named a passion that could realistically be a job, like computer programming.
The “passion hypothesis” started in the 1970s. This idea says you first find what you love, then look for a job that matches it. After this, more and more people started changing jobs often. They wanted to find “the one, right job.” But this often led to great unhappiness. They found that such a perfect job usually did not exist. Of course, it is great if someone finds their calling. But there is not much demand for full-time surrealist poets or professional mojito drinkers. And does everyone really need to find their calling?
The effect of this “passion epidemic” was also seen in a study on job satisfaction in the United States. In 1987, 61% of people said they were happy with their job. By 2010, this number was only 45%.
Blink 2 – Passion comes from skill.
So, looking for your passions first, then finding a career that matches them, is a dead end. But what works instead?
Here is an important idea to remember: Sometimes, it takes time to develop a passion for something. For example, a study looked at college administrative assistants. This job is often seen as boring. About one-third of the people asked said their job was just a way to pay bills. Another third saw it as a career. These people wanted to grow and get better at their job. The last third truly saw their work as a calling. It was a main part of their life and who they were.
It turned out that many people in this last group had been in the job for a long time. People who had time to grow in their job and build good relationships with colleagues were more likely to say they loved their work.
True passion for something grows when we become very good at it and become experts. For example, the Self-Determination Theory names three things that help inner motivation. This motivation greatly affects how happy you are at work: Autonomy – feeling you control your work and yourself. Competence – feeling you are good at what you do. And Relatedness – feeling connected to other people.
Autonomy and competence usually come from hard work. The key to success is not passion itself. It is the will to become an expert through hard work. So, we should turn the idea of passion around. Learn to be very good at something, and passion might come on its own.
Blink 3 – The craftsman mindset believes that practice makes perfect.
People who follow the “passion mantra” first ask, “What do I really want?” They focus on what a job can offer them. This also shows what they do not like about a job. This often leads to unhappiness.
The craftsman mindset, however, focuses on the value you create through your work. For example, musicians or entertainers must practice, practice, practice to succeed. Otherwise, they have no chance in competition. Steve Martin once said, “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” If you are the best at what you do, you will surely succeed.
This is true for almost all jobs. So, before you ask if you have found your calling, focus first on doing good work.
The craftsman mindset helps with this. If you believe that skill leads to success, then it is natural to work on yourself. You will practice constantly and get better. This also means taking on new challenges again and again. It means stepping out of your comfort zone.
For example, people say that you can only become a chess master if you have practiced chess for at least 10,000 hours. After this “magic limit,” it shows that the very best players are not necessarily those with more playing experience than everyone else. Instead, they are the ones who always face new challenges. For example, they study difficult theoretical chess problems.
If they only play against other players, these are often weaker opponents. They reach the same point in the game again and again. But complex theoretical problems push them out of their comfort zone. This is a good way to keep getting better.
Blink 4 – For a great job, you need great skills.
The craftsman mindset is useful not only for musicians and entertainers. In every industry, it pays to practice hard. It is good to gain valuable skills and become an expert.
Truly great jobs are rare. If you want one, you need special skills. New workers should not expect to have creative freedom and full control right away. It’s about supply and demand: Only those with special, in-demand skills can find a special, in-demand job.
Newport calls these skills career capital. Laura’s example shows how important they are: She was tired of her job as an accountant. So, she trained to be a yoga teacher to open her own studio. For a while, it went well. But when a financial crisis made times harder, she was one of the first to close. Why did this happen?
She simply did not have enough career capital to survive hard times. She had gathered her career capital in accounting. Compared to other yoga teachers, she knew little about her new industry. During the crisis, she made some unwise choices and went bankrupt.
Career capital is best gained through the craftsman mindset. You need to focus on always improving your skills. Alex, a TV scriptwriter, learned this: In his job, many writers compete for few assignments. So, he knew he had to become a master through practice. He built his career capital by writing script after script. He also got honest feedback from experienced writers and colleagues. This helped him finally become an expert in his field.
Blink 5 – To keep control and freedom, build career capital and refuse promotions.
Many studies show that control is the most important part of a happy and fulfilling life. This means feeling you have control over what happens in your own life. But at work, we often face things that stop us from having this control.
First, control gained without career capital usually does not last long. Take Jane, a student who dreamed of funding her world trip with a travel blog. She believed such a blog could make a lot of money. But she had little idea how to attract readers or make money from them. Her attempt failed because she did not have career capital for what she wanted to do.
Ryan was different. He also wanted an independent life, so he decided to start a farm. He had no farming experience. So, he started reading to learn how to grow and sell crops. Over time, he built the necessary career capital. With this, he could make his project successful.
Also, we often face problems when we want more control at work. Once you become valuable, your employer will try hard to stop you from leaving. For example, they might promote you to a job where you earn more money but have less control. The tasks are new and you have to master them first. Sometimes, the fine print might even say you must stay with the company for three years.
The best thing to do is like Lulu, a software developer. She first built career capital to get a shorter work week. Then, when she was offered a better-paying job where she would have to work more, she politely said no.
Blink 6 – Use the craftsman mindset to find a meaningful goal.
Having a mission, which is a clear and meaningful goal, is very motivating for many reasons. Seeing meaning in what we do not only makes us happier with our lives. It also makes us stronger against problems and setbacks. But how do we find the right mission?
A good mission is like a scientific breakthrough. Both happen in what is called the “adjacent possible.” This means combining existing ideas in new ways. This leads to new inventions. A good example is scientific discoveries that are made by several researchers at the same time, not by chance. For example, sunspots were discovered four times in 1611, each time by different people. And different scientists managed to separate oxygen in 1772 and 1774. This happened simply because, with the tools and knowledge of that time, it was the next logical step.
You can use this idea for your own personal mission. Always look for the right “adjacent possible” in your field. But for this, you need patience and the craftsman mindset. You need a lot of practice to even get into the space of the adjacent possible. This usually only works if you specialize. Do not try to do too many things at once.
For example, Biology Professor Sabeti studies old diseases using the newest technology. She always used the most modern research methods to understand old problems. This way, she found her mission. It motivated her so much that she became a Harvard professor. Now, she has given her whole working life to this one goal.
Blink 7 – You reach your mission by taking small risks and standing out.
To get into the “adjacent possible” and find a mission there, you first need career capital. But once you have done this first step, how do you finally find your own mission?
First, you should always take many small risks. This means always trying a small step in one direction and seeing if it is the right one. Of course, you will have failures, but also many small, important successes.
But the risks should be small. They should last no longer than a few months. They should also give clear feedback about success or failure. For example, the archaeologist Kirk wanted to make archaeology more popular. He started many small projects to find the right way. For example, he turned old documentaries into digital files and released them on DVDs. Or he filmed himself and tried to get funding for his own documentary. He could test these different ideas quickly, and the feedback was clear.
When looking for the right mission, you should always remember that it must not be simple. It must be special. So special that other people talk about it.
Like the mission of programmer Giles. He dreamed of creating open-source software with artificial intelligence that could compose music. This made him unique. His mission got a lot of attention, and others talked about his project. Giles finally released his program in the open-source world. This is where interested people can be found who use new software and help spread such a mission.
And what Giles can do, anyone can basically do. You can adopt a craftsman mindset. You can become an expert through practice. You can find the right mission. And finally, you can make it real.
Summary
The main message of these blinks is:
Forget “Follow your passion!” Instead, build the right career capital and become an expert in your field. Passion will follow later. Once you have worked your way into the “adjacent possible,” you will also find a motivating and meaningful mission.
What you can do:
Understand what kind of economy you work in.
It is important to know if you are in a market where only one type of career capital counts. Or if you are in a market where many paths lead to success. Mixing these up can have bad results. For example, in the market for advice blogs, there is only one way to succeed: the blog’s content must excite the audience. Anyone who tries to get readers’ attention in another way will fail.
Find out what career capital you need.
How can a blogger, for example, learn to write interesting content? By practicing a lot. By learning from the right role models. By daring to step out of their comfort zone. And by not being afraid of honest feedback. They should look for “open doors.” These are clear opportunities to build the right career capital. It is always easier when you have already been in an area for a while, rather than starting from zero.
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We try very hard to prepare the main ideas of books so that you can learn a lot from them. Every blink is worked on and checked by at least six people. We are happy to get feedback at [email protected].
For further reading: Die neue Lust an der Arbeit by Susanne Westphal
In Die neue Lust an der Arbeit (2018) talks about how anyone can change their work to enjoy it more. This is true for managers, freelancers, or employees. When you love your job, you simply get better results. You also have a much nicer life than someone who unwillingly goes to the office every morning.
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