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This book actually refreshed my view and my mindset of what work should be like. For years now, I have found myself struggling because I wasn’t sure what I was passionate enough about to turn into a career. Sure, I like a lot of things: sport, baking and socializing, to name a few. But I couldn’t grasp how to turn this into ‘meaningful’ work. I mean, I love animals, I’m sure we all do (unless you’re a psychopath), but we can’t all become vets… it’s unrealistic. Finally a comment of a different sort. Concepts such as career capital, deliberate practice and the craftsmen mindset are good antidotes to the “want it enough and it will happen” school of mystical thinking and remarkability hints at the competitive nature of the job market. The argument that Cal puts forwards seems to say though, that if you develop career capital to a sufficient extent you will naturally shine brighter than other people who are competing for the same job slots, slots that have characteristics that are quite rare in the actual job market. This seems to me to miss out a significant set of processes within the job selection process, namely the social and its subclass the political. While it may be true for a few people that garnering sufficient career capital is sufficient to achieve, for most people this will not be possible. To differentiate yourself in this way is virtually impossible for many and although the idea of seeking to achieve this is (possibly) a good one it is not for many realistic. Even if this is possible, the access to these positions that provide these sought –after conditions is fraught with other obstacles. In academia in particular the knowledge that spreads from one speciality to another is relatively small; they are bounded areas of discourse. So when the appointment of someone to a professorship is contemplated many of the decision makers will be ignorant of the speciality and therefore not really in a position to make the sort of judgement that Cal’s version of the universe would require. Quite properly when this occurs, the decision makers may take soundings from within the general academic community and within the speciality community. This is unlikely to be a very thorough process into the social realm of reputation and standing. Universities for example, are notoriously political environments where power and influence are critical to the decisions made. This is not the kind of rational process that Cal’s model requires. I would therefore suggest an additional process that is vitally important to achieving the desired outcome and that is the accumulation of social capital i.e. critical relationships with key decision makers. Although the processes to achieve this overlap with those involved with career capital , they are not the same. Making these relationships will also I think increase the rate of happy “accidents”. Two different approaches to thinking about work: the craftsman mindset, a focus on what value you’re producing in your job, and the passion mindset, a focus on what value your job offers you. Most people adopt the passion mindset, but in this chapter I argue that the craftsman mindset is the foundation for creating work you love. If you just show up and work hard, you will soon hit a performance plateau beyond which you get any better.
Money serves as a “neutral indicator of value, or a way of determining whether or not you have enough career capital to succeed with a pursuit.” When you work to make money or seek evidence of value, you can navigate control and provide value, whether in an entrepreneurial venture or a corporate role. Rule #4: Think Small, Act Big (Or, The Importance Of Mission)start "deliberative practice" - "Deliberate practice is the key strategy for acquiring career capital then integrating it into your own working life." As per the 10,000 hours philosophy espoused by Anders Ericsson and then Malcolm Gladwell..
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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 However, after reading Newport’s book, I feel content in the idea that I need to find my niche; something I’m good at, and just focus on that. Like everyone else, I need to develop skills and values before I can gain control and mission in my career. If you search Google’s Ngram viewer for “ follow your passion” you will see a big spike upward in modern times. To have a mission is to have a unifying focus for your career. It’s more general than a specific job and can span multiple positions. It provides an answer to the question, ‘What should I do with my life.’” Good career missions are powerful because they focus your energy on a worthwhile goal. Achieving this goal maximizes your positive impact on the world, which is vital for developing a love for what you do. People who feel like their work matters are more satisfied and more resilient in the face of challenging work.
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