The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need - by Daniel H. Pink
Date read: 2023-09-19How strongly I recommend it: 8/10
(See my list of 150+ books, for more.)
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Extremely short but powerful graphic novel that provides 6 lessons to improve your career. Great for those just entering into the workforce but also a great reminder for those mid-career.
Contents:
- LESSON 1: THERE IS NO PLAN
- LESSON 2: THINK STRENGTHS, NOT WEAKNESSES
- LESSON 3: IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU
- LESSON 4: PERSISTENCE TRUMPS TALENT
- LESSON 5: MAKE EXCELLENT MISTAKES
- LESSON 6: LEAVE AN IMPRINT
My Notes
It's nice to believe that you can map out every step ahead of time and end up where you want. But that's a fantasy. The world changes. Ten years from now, your job might be outsourced to offshore resources (or AI). Your industry might not even exist. And you'll change, too. You might discover a hidden talent. And if you try to stick to your plan, even though you've realized that it's dumb, you'll end up in a career you don't like.
You can make career choices for two reasons:
Intstrumental reasons usually don't work. Things are too complicated, too unpredictable. You never know what's going to happen, so you end up stuck.
The most successful people - not all the time, but most of the time - make decisions for fundamental reasons. They take a job or join a company beacuse it will let them do interesting work in a cool place - even if they don't know exactly where it will lead.
Research has shown the key to success is to steer around your weaknesses and focus on your strengths.
Successful peaple don't try too hard to improve what they're bad at. They capitalize on what they're good at.
It's about the customer. It's about your client.
Most successful people improve their own lives by improving others' lives. They help their customer sovle its problem. They give their client something it didn't know it was missing. That's where they focus their energy, talent, and brainpower.
The most valuable people in any job bring out the best in others. They make their boss look good. They help their teammates succeed.
The people who achieve the most are often the ones who stick with it when others don't.
What do musicians and athletes do that others don't? They show up. They practice, and practice, and practice some more. That's why they do so well in whatever career they choose - even if it's not sports or music.
Intrinsic motivation is so important. Doing things not to get an external reward like money or a promotion, but because you simply like doing it. The more intrinsic motivation you have, the more likely you are to persist, the more likely you are to succeed.
Too many people spend their time avoiding mistakes. They're so concerned about being wrong, about messing up, that they never try anything - which means they never do anything. Their focus is avoiding failure. But that's actually a crummy way to achieve success.
People make spectactular mistakes because they're trying to do something big, but each time they make a mistake, they get a little better and move a little closer to excellence.
When you get older and look back on your life, you'll ask yourself a whole bunch of questions. Did I make a difference? Did I contribute something? Did my being here matter? Did I do something that left an imprint?
Think about your purpose...to recognize that your life isn't infinite, and that you should use your limited time here to do something that matters.
The other five lessons are crucial, but truly successful people deploy them in the service of something larger than themselves.