So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love

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The Craftsman Mindset – an approach to your working life in which you focus on the value of what you are offering to the world Let no negativity touch you. Surround yourself with people who believe in you and will aid you to do better. Do your best by putting in your heart and soul. Take yourself to a level, where people are enthralled by your ability. Once you get to the cutting edge, however, and discover a mission in the adjacent possible, you must go after it with zeal: a “big” action.” Chapter Fourteen: Missions Require Little Bets

This idea aligns well with the passion mindset, but it fails to show people how dedicating themselves to a craft and producing more value in the world is the best way to find meaningful work. Limits to the craftsman mindset This first rule introduced by Newport grabbed my attention immediately. A refreshing and interesting view, Newport confidently slates and dismisses the passion hypothesis, a ‘FAD’ and safe belief that argues that ‘ the key to occupational happiness is to first figure out what you’re passionate about and then find a job to match this passion’.In his book Drive, Dan Pink discusses how control has resulted in an overall better life in terms of better academic results, physical performance, increased productivity, and greater occupational happiness. Within the workplace, the power of control is embodied in a new philosophy called ROWE: His third and final idea is that missions require marketing. That is, to succeed, good missions should obey Seth Godin’s ‘Purple Cow’ law of marketing: they should be so remarkable so as to compel people to share it with others. Newport thinks that compelling missions are more likely to be noticed, and therefore you’re more likely to be successful. What did it teach me personally? Plenty of people are good at what they do but haven’t reoriented their careers in a compelling direction. This chapter shows you why skills trump passion. Newport presents two different ways to think about work: the Craftsman Mindset and the Passion Mindset. “Most people adopt the Passion Mindset, but this chapter argues that the Craftsman Mindset is the foundation for creating work you love.”

Passion Is a Side Effect of Mastery: The Self-Determination Theory shows us why which pursuits motivate people in their work:

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Auction Market – a less structured market with “many different types of career capital, and each person might generate their own unique collection of this capital”

Missions work because they help focus your energy toward a useful goal that increases your impact on the world, which helps you feel more connected to the work that you do.This chapter of So Good They Can’t Ignore You “argues that a mission chosen before you have relevant career capital is not likely to be sustainable.” Mission is another example of career capital theory in action. If you want a mission, you need to first acquire capital. When you cultivate the craftsman mindset, you aren’t too concerned about “finding your passion.” Instead, you’re focused on producing more valuable work. And in that pursuit of producing more value, you end up discovering what you like, what other people enjoy, and ultimately how you can do work that you find meaningful and that’s valued by other people. Traits that define great work Yet, Newport continues to promote interesting ideas. The first is that a mission must be capital driven, in a sense, you can’t skip straight into a great mission without having mastery in your field. The passion hypothesis convinces people that there is a magic right job waiting for them. This leads to chronic job-hopping and crippling self-doubt.