BOOK REVIEW
So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport
‘Am I fulfilling my passion?’ ‘Am I doing what I really love?’ Most of us have asked ourselves this question at one point or another. I had been ruminating over my role in the businesses I was involved with: are they my 'passion'? I was creating a dilemma for myself over whether I was truly committing to things that I love doing. I do this from time to time. The thought was winding me up more than it had any right to. I read 'So good they can't ignore you' by Cal Newport on a flight from Brisbane to Auckland last year. This book was the antidote.
Rule #1 Don't follow your passion
We are encouraged to believe that following our passion is the worthiest of causes. This was the story throughout my art degree, whenever I thought about the next job, and whenever I had conversations with peers. Questions like 'Who am I?' and 'What do I truly love?' are essentially impossible to reduce down to simple answers. They change with new information. It is destined to keep us perpetually unhappy and confused and seeking something more. This theme has continued in our popular media. Heroes like Steve Jobs are quoted as: 'You've got to find what you love... the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking, and don't settle.' It feels appealing doesn't it? Over 3.5 million other people thought so too as they shared his video over and over again.
Newport calls it 'The Passion Hypothesis': it assumes the key to occupational happiness is to first figure out what you're passionate about and then find a job that matches this passion.
It turns out that if you look even a tiny bit deeper, Jobs wasn't even close to describing the real story of his career. Newport describes a college wanderer, a traveler, someone not particularly committed to technology or entrepreneurship. He liked electronics because it delivered quick cash. After discovering an opportunity to profit over some small deals, Apple Computers was born. Later, he clearly enjoyed what he did. But the point is, that wasn't the beginning. If he had listened to his own advice, there is no way Apple would have happened.
The 'Passion Hypothesis' is wrong
Following my passion in my 20s meant having a career as an artist. That lead me down rabbit holes where I was eating through cash earned through other jobs, and getting unhappier in my search for 'meaning' and 'something more'. What I didn't do was treat art like it was something to master. I treated it like it was a medium to express myself. It was exactly the wrong thing to do. After some lukewarm success in galleries, I got on with developing skill in both business and art and limited my 'passion' focus. Over 15 years later I realised how important making that shift was. In the arts - dance, sculpture, music - technical mastery is fundamental, and it is very clear who has it and who doesn’t. In business, it is the same.
Passion is a side effect of mastery
Newport moves on to talk about Dan Pink's theories on motivation, found in his book Drive and his TED talk "On the Surprising Science of Motivation". Worth watching. One thing it does not include is 'matching work to pre-existing passions' as being important for motivation.
Rule #2 Be so good they can't ignore you
So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport
Instead of focusing on passion, Newport recommends 'adopting a craftsman mindset'. Here comes one of my favorite quotes. Remember comedian Steve Martin? Interviewer after interviewer would ask him, 'How did you get to where you are? How did that happen?' with respect to his success in stand up comedy. The quote comes in the last 5 minutes of an interview with Charlie Rose, when Rose asks Martin for his advice for aspiring performers:
"Nobody ever takes note of my advice, because it's not the answer they wanted to hear," Martin said. "What they want to hear is 'Here's how you get the agent, here's how you write a script,'... but I always say, 'Be so good they can't ignore you.'"
"If somebody's thinking, 'How can I be really good?' people are going to come to you."
Martin innovated his comedy act into something completely different to what anyone had seen before. He practiced. He perfected. It took over 10 years for his act to come together, but when it did, it was an incredible success.
"Eventually you are so experienced that there's a confidence that comes out," Martin explained. "I think it's something the audience smells."
Whereas the passion mindset focuses on what the world can offer you, the craftsman mindset focuses on what you can offer the world.
What I got out of reading this: that passions are a beautiful thing, however when considered for a long term purpose, they can be seductively misleading. They are elusive and change and often don't deliver on their promise. I reminded myself that developing skill is harder, takes longer, and is oh so much more rewarding. It has depth and helps me feel grounded in what I do. Focusing on mastery and skill stopped my ego-centric little spiral and helped me get on with doing things well, and for the benefit of other people, not just me.
You can find the book here on Amazon.
If you like videos more, check out Cal Newport’s presentation to Google below.
Sidenote: I am still a painter, and I love it. If some of you curious cats want to look at my art on Instagram, enjoy!
Sarah Daly is undertaking a PhD at the Queensland University of Technology, investigating the role of trust in the adoption and diffusion of AI based innovation, particularly in the healthcare sector. She is also the Operations Director of CapFeather, a customer strategy and innovation consulting firm.